Zone of Protection
by Vergil Leonidas
Summary: Lightning can't protect. It's too destructive, and Vergil was exactly like the lightning he had control over. That was probably the reason why Monkey D. Luffy, a rubber man immune to lightning, could get him to become a pirate. Still, if a devil like Vergil could follow a human, then perhaps lightning could protect. (NamixOC) (Current Arc: Little Garden)
1. First step of the journey

_**Zone of Protection**_

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_**Arc 1 – Romance Dawn**_

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_**Chapter 1 – First step of the journey**_

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Inheriting a will, some might even call that a burden. Some might even try to run away from it; hide from the challenge. Others though, they accept it, carry on proudly. Their dreams and goals, empowered by the inherited will, cannot be broken.

"Oi, hurry it up!"

A pirate crew that stayed in a small village for roughly a year was once again setting sail; the pirates were loading up the supplies as the villagers observed, none indifferent to the amazing crew's department. The one most affected was a boy, Monkey D. Luffy, still at the naïve age of seven. "You're leaving for real this time?" it came out of nowhere, up until that point he believed they would return again, just as they always did.

Shanks, the pirate captain, and a man always wearing a straw hat looked back at his crew stocking up on supplies. "Yeah. We've stayed here for quite a while. It's about time we move on," and without missing a beat he continued. "I bet you'll miss us."

Luffy instantly smiled, it wasn't as wide as his signature smile, but he accepted that Shanks had to leave. "Yeah, I'll miss you guys; but I won't ask you to take me with you," it was an often-made request, one that was always refused. Now Luffy knew it was for a good reason and more importantly… "I've decided to do it by myself. I'm gonna be a pirate."

With a playful look in his eyes, the pirate captain stuck his tongue out at Luffy. "Heh, I wouldn't have taken you, anyway! A kid like you could never be a pirate!" one last chance to tease the boy, at least for now, there was no way he'd miss it.

Immediately Luffy's face shifted into that of pure childish anger. "YES I CAN! I'll gather my own crew of Nakama that's strong enough to beat yours and find the world's greatest treasure!" he wasn't done yet, he needed to make his point. "I'm gonna become the Pirate King, no matter what!"

A more serious, proud kind of smile appeared on Shanks' face. "Oh, so you're going to beat us?" Shanks, inquired.

Luffy remained silent, he was looking at the ground and fighting back his emotions.

Shanks took his straw hat. "In that case…"

Luffy gasped as the straw hat was placed on his head.

The world around them seemed to vanish for a moment. Like nothing else mattered. "This had it my gift to you," Shanks spoke, slowly he started letting go of the hat. "It's very important to me. Take good care of it," he turned his back to Luffy, ready to leave. "When you become a great pirate, return that hat to me. It's a promise, Luffy!"

And with that promise made, Luffy continued crying.

_**~X~**_

At around the same time in a completely different world, the will to go on was being put to a test.

Vergil's field of vision was getting narrow, he tripped on a collapsed pillar, stumbling forward and falling on his knees. The weight of a body on his back nearly made him collapse to the ground. The deep cut across his chest tore just a bit more and blood mixed with the dirt. He gasped for air, only to cough when smoke filled his lungs. Every breath hurt, but he gritted his teeth and raised to his feet. A drop of sweat slid down his face, both due to pain and exhaustion, and the heat from the flames around him.

'_Why did this happen?_' he didn't even have the strength to yell, to scream at the red skies.

"Over here! I heard coughing!"

Vergil's eyes widened as he heard the voice. Not a moment later he heard footsteps, just one enemy. He looked back at Grom, the devil was still unconscious. "I'm getting you to safety, you hear me," he lowered Grom's body and leaned him against the remains of a fallen building.

He didn't have the energy to summon Perun and even if he had it would alert the enemies. He'd have to fight the old fashioned way. He went back to the other side of the street and placed his hand on the upper side of the wall. Carefully, he jumped over it, at least he still had adrenaline pushing him beyond his limits. Grom needed to survive no matter what. He was their hope, he'd recover, stronger than ever, and turn this battle around.

It was just a devil, a footsoldier wearing a gray button-up long sleeve shirt and black pants, a standard uniform of Apolion's soldiers.

Vergil slowly got over the wall and silently moved forward, he needed the element of surprise.

"Just a dying man? Well, no need to suffer anymore. Let me put you out of your misery," the devil sighed and reached back for his gun, a standard revolver.

Vergil grabbed his neck from behind, quickly pressing the sides of it and pulling the man down to the ground. He was gasping for air, his body already going limp as his strength vanished. With the enemy powerless to resist Vergil let go of the sides of the neck and swiftly broke it. As he took the gun from the man Vergil looked down, while the man was young, he was still older than Vergil. "Now, where are your buddies?"

He looked around and concentrated, he couldn't sense anyone nearby; though he was probably too exhausted to do it even if he was surrounded.

"Verge."

Vergil's red eyes widened as he heard Grom's voice.

"Leave me," Grom wheezed, the cut on the side of his neck made everything harder to do. He still pushed himself to sit up and leaned against the wall.

"What are you saying? A bit more and we'll be out of Volos," he wanted to shout, to get angry at Grom, but he couldn't let his voice get any higher than a whisper.

Grom grinned but didn't say a single word. Slowly he stood up and Vergil stepped back. Despite blood all over him Grom still looked so powerful. He was no longer trembling or having trouble standing. It was as if a new breath of life coursed through him. His yellow eyes shone with conviction.

Lightning crackled in the distance. "I'm not arguing about this," Grom spoke up and looked Vergil in the eyes. "Verge, I'm proud of you," in a blink of an eye, Grom grabbed Vergil by the neck and threw him into the ruins of the building Vergil previously hid in.

Immediately upon hitting the ground, Vergil lost consciousness.

A single tear rolled down his cheek.

_**~X~**_

If there was ever a single kind of food Vergil could just erase from existence, it would be the damn abomination he was trying to force through his throat. It was a combination of blodling cheese too salty to be considered healthy, a thin, cheapest, bitter forest herb leaf and a, thankfully, thin layer of blodling fat on a slice of frankly stale bread. As far as food went it was the second cheapest thing you could get, second only to stale bread and only by five svarogs. Considering the next cheapest thing cost twice as much, fifty svarogs, and was barely half the size Vergil opted for quantity. Not like salted bread would make him any healthier.

"You're definitely getting sick one of these days," a voice snapped him out of mindless chewing and he glanced to the side. Next to him was a devil in his late twenties, though the age wasn't that obvious, from afar he looked younger than Vergil, though a light grey suit contrasting Vergil's tattered black coat and black hair, as opposed to Vergil's pure white, probably had a lot to do with that. "You could say something."

Vergil concentrated back on swallowing the abomination of a meal. "Piss off, Kaltag," he growled, really not in the mood for his former comrade's company.

Kaltag though, much to Vergil's annoyance, sat down right next to him. "Why are you even staying here?" Kaltag looked annoyed as someone in the back groaned in pain. Vergil though remained silent and that annoyed him even more. "One large cup of tea with extra lemon and honey from the human world," he placed his order and pulled out a thousand svarogs.

"He'll have a glass of water," Vergil interrupted before the bartender could start making the tea. The white-haired male ignored the glares from the bartender and from the devil next to him. "Take a look around," he hissed at Kaltag, they were in a dimly lit bar filled with people that barely made it through the day eating once in a while the cheapest meal they could get.

"Geez, not my fault they can't get their lives together," Kaltag rolled his eyes.

Vergil grabbed him by the collar and pulled him closer. "You might want to take a look at what your comrades are doing before you open your mouth," a single spark found its way up to Kaltag's neck to make a point.

Kaltag sneered at him. "Says the high and mighty hero that can't keep anyone alive. Black Thunder? You're nothing but a dead shell at this point," he turned to the bartender. "And I'll have that tea I ordered as well as your most expensive meal."

"That'll be ten thousand svarogs, sir," bartender informed him, oblivious to the glares he and his new favorite customer were receiving from the rest of the devils in the bar. He then turned to Vergil. "Would you like anything else?"

Vergil sighed, fighting wouldn't bring him anything here. "Give me another one of these abominations," he pointed at the nearly eaten piece of bread. "Two middle bottles of clean water, a portion of blodling steak and a loaf of bread. Put it all in a bag."

The bartender nodded and a few minutes later he came back with the bag to where Vergil was still sitting, Kaltag had moved further down the bar in the meantime. "Eight hundred twenty-five svarogs."

Vergil placed the cash on the counter, took the bag, and wordlessly left the bar. Volos was still mostly in ruins, with only a few houses actually being without damage. Nine years passed since Grom died yet this place never recovered. Vergil looked at the sky, that red sky he used to love now seemed like a cruel reminder of the bloodbath this place went through. An old couple stumbled down the street, they were likely walking towards the bar. They nodded at him, offering the weakest of smiles but smiles none the less.

"A nice day, my boy," the old man pointed at the clear sky.

"Most would agree," Vergil smirked, objectively speaking, it was a nice day, for him though.

"Eh, quit teasing darling," the female lightly scolded her husband.

The old man just smiled as he looked into Vergil's eyes. "Nah, he doesn't mind. Right, Vergil-kun."

Vergil reached up and touched the lightning scar on the right side of his face, he had his own lightning to thank for that, even after seventeen years it didn't even fade, it was still as red as the lightning that struck him. "I don't. I'll see you later," he waved to the old couple one last time before heading down the street. A few streets further away from the bar he leaned against the wall and sat down, the shadow of the building provided him with the much-needed shelter from the sun.

It didn't help with heat though, there was no wind and sweat made his white hair stick to his forehead. He needed a haircut, it was starting to get into his eyes. He really should have taken off his coat, but it wasn't like it would help so he might as well just bear with it. Vergil closed his eyes for five minutes and then he heard the small footsteps, a pair of them. "Come on out, I brought you food. You'll have to share the steak though."

As soon as he said that two kids, no older than ten appeared from behind the corner. They were twins, still so powerless to make it on their own. Orphans from four years ago… Perhaps that was why Vergil kept providing them with some food and money. He pulled out the abomination and tossed the rest of the bag to the kids.

"Thanks, big brother," the blond boy muttered as he and his sister started eating on the ground in front of Vergil.

"For the whatever time this is, my name is not big brother, it's Vergil," he kept pointing that out mostly out of habit by now, there was no way the two were going to stop anytime soon. Still, his now yellow, eyes softened a bit. Against his will he did end up forming somewhat of a bond with the kids, so the least he could do right now was making sure they were taken care of, without him. He waited until they were done with their meal. "Miranda, Gari, I need to leave for some time-"

"But big brother-" the twins immediately jumped up.

"Vergil! And no buts," even now he couldn't skip correcting them. "I have something I need to fix, and you two need to leave this place," he reached into his pocket and pulled an envelope. A stern look in his eyes and the kids were silenced before either could speak again. "There's money for food, tickets for the train and a letter for Zarja, seek her out when you get there and give it to her. She'll make sure you're fine."

The kids latched onto his legs the moment he stood up, but he gently pushed them away and placed the envelope in Gari's hands. "Keep a close eye on it. Goodbye," he didn't even look back, he just jumped up to the roof where the kids couldn't follow him.

_**~X~**_

Thanatos, the demon world as humans often called it, Vergil wondered how long it could last with the way things were going. The ground underneath his boots cracked whenever he moved and while he certainly wasn't thin he wasn't that heavy either. Lack of rain truly messed up this area, almost half a year without it. Not even nights were providing comfort, sure he recovered enough strength to keep going and fight, but darkness wasn't his primary source of power. It was electricity, without it he just kept getting weaker and weaker. Ever since he lost- no, he couldn't think about _that_ now.

Finally, after two hours of walking, he reached his destination, crossroads, one led to mountains while the other led to the bridge that connected two sides of Thanatos, a bridge over the Chasm of souls. Vergil sighed, he needed to get from one world to another and he couldn't do it legally. "Let's go then, to Dawn Island."

Maybe it was Thanatos' way to say goodbye, or it was just a coincidence, likely latter, nonetheless rain began to fall. As Vergil made his way towards the Chasm of souls a roar of thunder came as a music to his ears. He was about to leave at full strength.

_**~X~**_

A year later, for better or worse, Vergil still didn't return to Thanatos. He could go back, returning to Thanatos wasn't a problem, he'd just connect to the malfunctioning portal and work his way back from there. As long as the portal from the world he was leaving was working, things would work out. Yet, he wasn't doing that. He chose to stay no matter how easy it would be to leave. All for the sake of one human.

And now he was in a dinghy with that very human, the first human he met since coming to this world.

Vergil was sleeping when Luffy, now a seventeen years old teen that just began his pirate life, shook him awake. "What is it Luffy? It's been like-" he glanced at the sky to check where the Sun was. "an hour or so," Vergil murmured sleepily, not exactly bothered by being woken up, he'd wake up soon anyway.

"We've been caught in a whirlpool," Luffy stated with a big grin on his face and Vergil blinked a couple of times. "And on such a nice day. How careless of us," Luffy pointed out casually.

Vergil had to grin. "You sure are taking things lightly, captain," yes, a devil chose to follow a human that was actually younger than him, six years younger. Well, Luffy was stronger than Vergil. The only difference was that Luffy didn't have the necessary skill set to deal with their little predicament. Vergil rose to his feet and looked at the whirlpool. "All right. Let's see if I can do something about it," the devil closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

The whirlpool was actually really big, especially compared to their tiny boat, although right now their size was Vergil's biggest advantage. As he looked at the imminent danger he raised his hands in front of his chest so that his right palm was about twenty centimeters above his left palm. A small orb of darkness began forming in the middle before expanding to a roughly fifteen-centimeter ball of concentrated darkness that was surrounded by two spinning rings of flaming darkness. The rings stopped and merged in the middle of the ball's outer layer. "**Darkness Stream**," Vergil's voice was calm as he generated darkness energy through the ball.

Darkness hit the water and though it took a few moments it slowly began pushing the dinghy away from the whirlpool. Nearing the edge of the whirlpool Vergil narrowed his eyes and doubled his effort, with one final push the boat broke through the confines of the whirlpool and propelled across the ocean.

Luffy whistled as the distance between them and the whirlpool increased. "That sure is a cool ability," he had seen it quite a few times, especially the ones Vergil could use almost instantly.

Vergil laughed as he sat back down. "Too bad I'm a punching bag until it's ready," he leaned against the barrel and yelped. In an instant, he found himself on his back and the barrel fell into the water.

"You forgot its empty?" Luffy raised an eyebrow at his first mate. That barrel was empty since yesterday, but they could still use it, so he cocked back his right arm and then stretched it to grab the barrel.

"I forgot it's too light. Or am I too heavy?" the devil pondered, not really doing anything to sit up.

Luffy tilted his head to the side. "Isn't it the same?"

Finally, Vergil sat up. "I suppose," he made a small orb of darkness before dispersing it. The year he spent in this world really helped him. "Still, I don't think I'd be able to push a ship out of that whirlpool. Guess some perks of sailing on a boat do exist."

"Shishishi! See?" Luffy grinned as he sat cross-legged on the bow. "We'll get a big one though! Eventually," he stretched his arms to show just how big.

Vergil formed a small ball of electric blue lightning. "Hopefully sooner rather than later, there aren't many ways to pass time," he made the ball hover over the board and began moving it around.

Luffy stretched out his arm and went to grab it only for Vergil to raise his finger quickly and manipulate it out of Luffy's reach. "Shishishi," Luffy laughed and pulled his arm back as Vergil hovered the ball above them. "**Gomu Gomu no Pistol**!" the boat swayed from side to side as Luffy's fist went right through the ball.

The two laughed until the boat stopped swaying. "Think fast," Vergil swiftly created a slightly bigger ball and launched it straight at Luffy's chest.

With a grin on his face, Luffy easily caught the ball, this time it didn't disappear upon contact and the straw hat wearing pirate could marvel at the slightly tingling ball of blue energy. "Think we can use this as bait?" Luffy asked as he tossed it up and down, a bit of electricity discharged and the ball got smaller but it was still there.

"Heh, I don't think fish would appreciate that. Maybe darkness, as a last resort," lightning didn't affect either of the two, which meant they could fight together without hindering one another. Sound of electricity was once again present as Vergil tossed another ball of lightning to Luffy and the two kept passing time with it.

_**~X~**_

Less than an hour before the night the two pirates saw a large galleon slowly drift closer to them.

"That's a big ship," Luffy noticed, he hadn't seen a ship that big in quite a long time. "Think they're friendly?" the ship looked like something that would belong to a pirate crew, over the top skull for figurehead being the prime example. It lacked a pirate flag though.

"Who knows, maybe they-" Vergil was cut off by a scream.

"Let me go, dumb pirate! Let me go!" it sounded like a child screaming.

The duo froze when they noticed a man holding a child over the railing, seemingly intending to toss it into the sea.

"Guess that answers the question," Vergil growled, his mood instantly changing from relaxed to pissed off.

"Help! Somebody help me!" the child screamed.

"Luffy," there was no need to ask, it was Luffy after all, but Vergil still looked Luffy in the eyes.

Luffy grinned, nodding at his first mate. "Let's go,"

Satisfied with the answer, the devil anchored the boat to the pirate's galleon and Luffy wrapped his arm around Vergil's abdomen and stretched the other one to grab onto the railing. "**Gomu Gomu no Rocket**!" they landed in the middle of quite a large pirate crew, at least a few dozens were surrounding them, and there were more pirates approaching.

The kid used the momentary surprise to get free and run inside the ship.

"Leave the brat back for later, we've got company," the captain smirked at the two.

"What's with that kid? Why didn't he run here?" Luffy asked, genuinely puzzled at what the kid did.

Vergil was just as confused, sure enemies were there, but surely going inside the ship was worse than running towards them. "No idea, maybe he doesn't need saving?"

Their discussion halted the moment one of the pirates shot at Vergil.

Vergil leaned to the side, easily dodging the bullet. "Oh well, we already picked a fight," he grinned a bit. It may have been his imagination, but he had an unsettling feeling he heard a child laughing. He glanced at Luffy, who albeit focused seemed slightly thrown off by something, perhaps he heard it too.

"Men! Attack!" the captain ordered, his sword raised toward the sky as his crew charged at Luffy and Vergil.

Vergil unsheathed a machete he held at his hip. The blade was as green as the darkest forest leaves with lighter vein-like lines decorating the dull side of the blade. The hilt followed the forest theme with a brown branch-like hilt that ended with a sharp pommel. Black shapeless mass emerged from his hand and engulfed the blade. A single swipe of his blade caused a wave of darkness to push back the pirates charging from his side.

Luffy didn't need to put much effort into dealing with the pirates either. "**Gomu Gomu no Whip**!" still, a swipe of rubber man's leg was far from normal attack to the pirates in this sea.

Yet, despite the strange abilities, the pirates were unfazed. Like a wild mob, they attacked yet again. Vergil dodged a punch and retaliated with an electrified kick to the guts of his attacker. Sounds of rifles firing made him turn around just as bullets hit Luffy.

Said rubber man grinned. "It won't work, cause I'm rubber," the bullets ricocheted back at the pirates that fired at him.

It was easy, too easy to deal with the pirates, a punch or a kick and they were down. It wasn't surprising, given the strength Luffy and Vergil had. Still, the number of enemies was an annoyance.

A pirate attacked Vergil from above only to have a machete stabbed into his chest. A few drops of blood dripped onto Vergil's cheek, once again making everything feel wrong. The blood didn't smell like it usually did, it didn't have the same warmth. Everything just felt just a little bit off. The devil chose to attribute the feeling to the source of blood, a human body. The only time he touched human blood before was long ago. Either that or he was trying to explain something he wasn't sure he could without coming to an understanding that wasn't favorable.

He pulled the machete out and pushed the pirate aside, once again he concentrated on the fight.

"Damn swordsman!" one of the pirates roared as Vergil blocked his blade.

"Captain! Maybe he's the Pirate Hunter, Roronoa Zoro!" another pirate exclaimed

"Zoro?" Luffy repeated as he punched another pirate.

Vergil blasted the captain away with a burst of lightning and jumped closer to Luffy.

"These guys are acting strange," Luffy pointed out as he and Vergil stood back to back.

"They are attacking us, but they only reacted to my machete, and even then it feels wrong," Vergil observed the pirates. Stretching, lightning, darkness, none of those things caused any reaction and no matter how many of them he and Luffy beat up there were still quite a few of them.

A burst of electricity emerged from Vergil's body, electrifying a couple of pirates at once. The devil jumped up and formed a ball of lightning between his palms. "**Ball** **Lightning**!" his attack struck the board and electricity spread without any restrains, electrifying the majority of the pirates standing in the immediate vicinity.

Slowly the pirates began backing away, perhaps tired from the fight. Perhaps afraid, perhaps they weren't as eager to face overwhelmingly strong enemies in the dark as the daylight began losing its strength.

"**Gomu Gomu no Whip**!" Luffy kicked the remaining ones overboard and the only ones left standing were him and Vergil.

"Well, that settles it," Vergil looked around; with no enemies left they had only one objective.

"Let's go save that kid," Luffy said quickly as he and Vergil began the search in the kitchen.

"You guys are really strong!" the voice echoed, strangely, they couldn't pinpoint the location as the child laughed.

"Hey! Are you okay? Where are you?" Luffy called out to the boy.

"In the storage. Come and save me," the child laughed again. Things were starting to get slightly creepy.

"Strange kid," Vergil commented. He had an eerie feeling about this, it just didn't seem normal for a child to laugh in this kind of situation.

The two stepped down into the storage room only to find there wasn't anyone in it.

"Maybe he is hiding," Luffy suggested though he was just as confused by the way the child was acting as Vergil was.

Vergil looked around the storage once more and still couldn't find anything that would lead to that child. "Between the two of us? Doubt any child could do that," he took a deep breath and surprisingly began coughing, nonetheless, he concentrated.

Laughter echoed through the ship, the same one they kept hearing.

"Come on out!" Luffy responded to it, he was starting to feel the heat, which was strange. "It's warm in here."

Vergil stopped for a moment and realized that Luffy was right. "You're right, maybe it's just the stale air."

The child laughed again.

"Wait," as the devil concentrated on the sound of laughter and closed his eyes he began realizing it. "It's a demon. The child, the laughter, the crew we beat up, everything is an illusion."

Luffy looked genuinely surprised. "You guys can do that?"

"I can't. A light demon could," Vergil thought it over, it made sense, but he couldn't understand why here of all places.

"So how come their attacks felt real?" Luffy asked a very good question.

"Because only the appearance is an illusion, on the inside its light, capable of damaging or injuring the ones that come in contact with it. It's a highly advanced ability," the devil explained as best as he could as quickly as possible.

"So it's a mystery power?" Luffy asked, he still didn't completely wrap his head around powers Vergil didn't have and other demons and devils did.

"Think of it as shaping a piece of meat so that it looks like, let's say an apple, on the outside it looks like an apple, but it's still meat on the inside," the devil answered, his eyes noticing more and more proofs that this was an illusion. For example, the shadows weren't consistent and he berated himself for not noticing earlier.

Luffy nodded, understanding it now. "Why are they doing this then?" Luffy asked, seeing as this was an illusion he wasn't certain what to expect next.

"It. We're dealing with a demon, not a devil. No idea and I don't feel like finding out. I can try breaking the illusion; maybe we can find a map or something around here," Vergil looked around, fairly confident that they could deal with whatever this demon was planning to do. Even more so since the demon had the light abilities, meaning its power was weakened during the night and he, as a darkness devil, was strengthened by it.

"And that Zoro they mentioned?" the name somehow got attached to Luffy's memory.

"Probably a memory of the ones that demon based its illusion on. It can't just create an illusion, it needs, a blueprint, for the lack of a better term," the devil guessed.

"Is it just me or is it getting warmer?" Luffy suddenly pointed out.

It was like that statement triggered a chain of events. Vergil's eyes widened and darkness burst out of his body, weakening the already weakened illusion. And then, all hell broke loose. The smoke was filling the storage; the trapdoors and the ceiling above them were on fire.

The entire ship was burning.

Luffy's eyes widened at the sight that greeted them the moment the illusion was shattered. Not only was the ship burning, but it was also already wreckage, to begin with.

"So… We better scram," Vergil said and quickly blasted the ceiling with a ball of darkness.

Luffy stretched his arm and grabbed onto the mast, pulling both him and Vergil out of the storage.

A sound of wood cracking echoed quite clearly. "That's not good," Luffy pointed out as they stared at the flames beneath them. Another sound of cracking later and the mast began leaning back.

"Only one way out then," Vergil realized and used lightning to propel him and Luffy over the burning galleon, which gave them a one-way ticket straight into the sea. With Luffy clinging to Vergil safe from drowning the two turned to where their boat was only to see it sinking. A piece of flaming wood landed on it, there was nothing they could do. "Note to self, lightning doesn't go well with ships," he barely resisted the urge to facepalm.

"I feel so weak," Luffy muttered making the devil look at him.

"Come on; let's see if I can find a piece of wood large enough for you to drift on," it was the least he could do, after all, his reckless use of lightning was the cause of this. It still didn't seem right to him, he had complete control over his lightning, and even if he was reckless with its use it still shouldn't have caused something like that to happen.

Well, the wreckage was probably a small spark away from catching fire anyway.

_**~X~**_

The sea was a dangerous place for a lone traveler, again, and again she was being reminded of that. And today she got reminded twice, first with a cruise ship that was attacked by a pirate crew only for all of the pirates to be slaughtered by a marine devil. She missed the slaughter by a few minutes, but even then she could see the raging whirlwind of fire engulfing the pirate ship. And then, barely a few hours later she saw another burning ship and two people in the water. One of them was searching for something and the other seemed like he couldn't move, maybe due to injury or something like that.

The girl contemplated on what to do, they needed help, but they could also be dangerous. Still, she couldn't just stand by as someone potentially innocent drowned. "Are you alright?" she asked as she approached the two. "Besides being castaways I mean."

She took the chance to take a good look at the two, they didn't seem injured, but the black-haired boy clearly didn't know how to swim. In fact, he was holding on to the white-haired… yellow-eyed…

Great.

A devil.

"Yeah. Could you help us out?" the younger boy, surprisingly human, asked. "We're kind of lost, shishishi," he even laughed a bit, almost as if that wasn't even a minor inconvenience.

"We're completely lost," the devil admitted. "I'm Leonidas Vergil by the way. And he's Monkey D. Luffy."

Well, she had two options, either leave them or help them. "I'm Nami," she introduced herself. "And you two are pirates," it was a statement, she didn't need to guess. They didn't look like marines and she never saw a devil sightseeing. A drop of sweat slid down her cheek, she could feel her heart drumming against her chest. This wasn't good.

"We are," Luffy honestly replied.

"Your pal is a devil, you know that right?" the idea of a human being relaxed around a devil seemed unnatural to her.

Luffy actually grinned. "Yep, he sure is," and he even had the guts to look happy about it.

"I can hear you, you know?" the devil spoke up, his tone wasn't threatening, more intrigued or confused as far as Nami could tell. "You don't really like my kind, do you?"

Nami narrowed her eyes. "You know how your kind acts; you can't expect me to trust you," there was anger in her words, pirates, devils, she couldn't trust them.

"Devils?" Luffy asked, tilting his head, though he was clearly feeling exhausted. Not necessarily reaction she expected from someone relying on someone else to stay on the surface.

"Not that pirates are any different," she added bitterly. Yet they seemed like they wouldn't attack, they had plenty of opportunities so far. "I hate pirates and devils!"

Vergil raised an eyebrow. "A human saved my life, does that mean I should be thankful to every human?"

Nami's eyebrow twitched at the sound, though infuriating, logic. "That doesn't mean I also have to help you. Especially for nothing in return."

Surprisingly, Vergil offered her a machete. "You can sell it; a demon forged machete in this condition could probably give you around a few thousand."

Nami took it and inspected the weapon; this devil clearly didn't have any idea of how prices went around here. Undamaged demon forged weaponry would sell for at least a million, perhaps go over ten million depending on the quality of the weapon. The boy seemed innocent enough and the devil looked harmless enough, despite the scar on his face. Devil. Of all the things she could come across it just had to be a devil. She had to make a decision, on one hand, she didn't want to associate with pirates; on the other hand, they were castaways. They probably wouldn't be able to find an island on their own in time. Eventually, they would probably die a slow and painful death. She would not stoop so low as to let someone die just like that. "Get on, but don't try anything and don't talk to me."

"Thanks!" Luffy grinned and was lifted up onto her boat. There wasn't anything too striking about the pirate, he was perhaps a bit younger than her, thin and overall average. The moment Vergil got on board she suppressed the urge to back away. He was muscular and the soaked deep blue T-shirt didn't do much to hide it. And he was tall, almost a head taller than her; add in those eyes and completely white hair and he was definitely not someone she wanted to see angry.

"Thank you," at least he had the decency to be thankful.

For some reason, Nami felt like he wasn't the one in command like Luffy was the one in charge. Frankly, she found it strange.

"Just don't bother me and we'll be just fine."

"Do you know about a pirate hunter? Zoro?" Luffy suddenly asked about half an hour later.

Nami observed him; clearly, the boy didn't understand when she told them not to talk to her. Still, she chose to humor the boy. "I heard he was captured by the marines."

Luffy tilted his head to the side. "So he's weak?"

"I wouldn't know. I'm heading to that town so you can check for yourself," if she was lucky the pirate hunter would hunt them down. But of course, she wasn't going to say that. She knew better than to lower her guard with a devil right there in front of her, even if he was sleeping at the moment.

"You know exactly where we're going?"

Maybe he was asking his devil, yes that's likely what was going on. The look on his face told her he was talking to her. "Yes, I do," she sighed, the kid really didn't get the message.

"That's amazing," as flattering as that was she hoped he'd just stop talking for the rest of their trip. "Be my navigator."

Nami nearly fell off the boat. "What part of I hate pirates do you not understand?!"

"Geez, he just asked, no need to yell," Vergil groaned, clearly woken up by her exclamation.

"He shouldn't have asked in the first place!" she boldly directed her anger at the devil, in the hindsight, it could have been a rather dangerous move. She mentally berated herself, the devil in front of her, while physically intimidating, didn't give off any dangerous vibes. Especially seeing he was with a complete idiot.

Vergil rolled onto his stomach and covered his ears. "Fine, fine. Just keep the tone down, please," he whined, almost like it was actually physically bothering him, more importantly, he didn't demand, he actually requested, with please and everything.

It definitely didn't seem devil-like. Especially not when compared to Krrim, the only devil she actually knew. For once, it seemed like she didn't come across a violent devil, or he was putting up an appearance. The only thought that crossed Nami's mind as she watched the two pirates was fairly simple. '_What did I get myself into?'_

_**~X~**_

Barely a few hours after the Sun reclaimed its spot on the sky Luffy jumped down to the harbor while Vergil stepped down from the boat in a less euphoric way. He did appreciate the opportunity to stretch a bit and once again touch the solid ground. Still, considering Thanatos had little need for ships he guessed he was doing fairly well.

"We are here!" Luffy yelled, the excitement obvious in his tone after all this was the first island he came across on his journey. He turned to Nami. "Thanks, you sure saved us there!"

Nami didn't seem even half as ecstatic as Luffy was and she likely didn't care about gratitude from a pirate, even less from a devil. "You're on your own from here on out," Nami began walking away, clearly intent on leaving them to their own devices.

"At least consider joining us, you might get surprised," Vergil called after her only to receive a huff, a glare, and an even quicker pace as Nami left their proximity. "Well, she never said 'no', right?"

Luffy nodded. "Mhm, she's nice. Well, it'll work out just fine," he looked sure of what he was saying and Vergil trusted him completely.

"So, where to, Captain?" Vergil asked the town seemed fairly lively, as far as he was concerned. There were shops and people shopping and whatever else humans did.

"We're gonna find Zoro and see what kind of guy he is," Luffy said.

"Zoro?" the devil repeated and then remembered. "Ah, that pirate hunter."

Luffy nodded. "Nami said he's captured by marines in this town."

Vergil guessed it would be a good idea to try and find new Nakama, after all, two, maybe three people wasn't enough for Grand Line, even if they were fairly strong. "Well, let's see if we can find him," he approached a nearby sailor. "Say, do you know where they are holding Zoro?"

The reaction was flabbergasting, to say the least. Everyone in hearing vicinity jumped away at the mention of Zoro's name causing the two pirates to sweatdrop.

"Let's try a bit of a different approach," Vergil suggested as he walked up to a merchant nearby. "Excuse me; can you point us to a Marine base?"

Once again the citizens jumped back and Vergil sweatdropped again.

Luffy laughed hard at that. "This town sure is fun," he grinned. "We'll come across it eventually," Luffy looked at it from the brighter side, and despite already knowing the boy for almost a year Vergil still had to smile at the optimism Luffy had. "Or we can just go towards it right away," he pointed ahead of them and Vergil's jaw dropped.

"How… the-" he had to pause for a moment as he raised a trembling finger at the largest, most prominent building in the town. "How did I miss that?!" he was exasperated, to say the least.

Luffy just patted him on the back, while laughing his head off. Meanwhile, the white-haired devil just dropped his head and sighed.

Eventually, the two pirates reached the massive gates of the marine base.

"We're finally here," Luffy stated, excitement filling his voice.

"He's probably a trophy prisoner, so I guess he'll be somewhere outside. Just to be an example of what happens if you cross the line," Vergil figured, so he and Luffy climbed up and looked over the huge wall, although Luffy's feet moved around a bit due to lack of proper footing.

"Now where is that pirate hunter?" Luffy said more to himself as he looked around.

"There," Vergil motioned as he pointed toward where probably Zoro was, well there was a tied up male and they didn't have any actual clues so they didn't have anything to lose by checking.

"Yahoo! Let's go!" Luffy ordered as he jumped down and ran to the other part of the base to get a better look.

Vergil on the other hand just looked at the marine base. "How come I didn't notice it?" ah, well, maybe he was tired, he didn't feel tired, but that was the explanation he was going to go with. Shrugging the worrying lack of observation skills off, he followed after his excited captain.

"There he is!" Luffy exclaimed as he and Vergil looked at the man tied to the wooden cross. "If we untie him he can escape."

"Sure," Vergil confirmed with a smirk on his face.

"Hey, you!" they heard Zoro calling them and turned to face him. "Could you please come over here and untie me?" he asked with a grin on his face. "I've been tied up for nine days and I'm exhausted," he continued.

"Look, he's smiling," Luffy commented.

"I'll repay you. I could hunt down a fugitive and give you the reward. I'm not lying, I'll keep my word," Zoro offered.

Vergil raised an eyebrow at the tied up man, honestly, he wasn't sure what to make of the situation they were in. Sound of a ladder being placed next to them made both pirates look to their right.

A girl carefully climbed up next to the confused pirates and made a 'shh' motion by placing a finger over her mouth. The small girl looked around a couple of times before dropping the rope down, she slid down the rope and ran toward Zoro.

"What do you want?" Zoro asked, his voice wasn't harsh this time, it was mostly passive. "Do you want to die or something...? Get lost!"

"Um, big brother, I made some rice balls for you! You haven't eaten in nine days right?" she said sweetly with a big, sweet smile on her face as she showed Zoro her rice balls. "Though, this is the first time I made rice balls."

"I'm not hungry!" Zoro yelled at her, his demeanor completely different from just a few moments ago.

"But..." she tried to say something, to try and convince him but he immediately cut her off.

"I don't want it! Leave me! Now go away or I'll beat you up!" he threatened her but at that moment the gate opened and a blond male, followed by two marines, approached.

"Roronoa Zoro! You shouldn't bully little kids, or else I'll have to report to my father about it," the man scolded Zoro; to this, the swordsman glared at the onion headed blond. "You've got more fight in you than I expected Roronoa Zoro."

"Some weirdo arrived," Luffy said as he and Vergil watched the scene.

"If you say so," Vergil still wasn't all that sure what was considered weird by human standards, so all he really had to go on was Luffy's judgment.

"Oh. Tasty looking rice balls," the blond man said as he noticed the rice balls, he had a stupidly evil grin on his face as he looked down on the girl and took one of the rice balls.

"Wait. Those weren't for you!" she tried to stop him.

Vergil frowned, weird was one thing, bastard behavior was something he was judging by devil standards. "He knows, he just doesn't care," and taking food from kids the way that guy just did was, as far as Vergil was concerned, worth a punch or two.

The rice ball thief took a bite of the rice ball and immediately spat it out. "Gross!" he yelled as he turned toward the girl and held his fist up in an angry way. "It's full of sugar! Rice balls need salt! Salt!" he yelled at her as if putting sugar in the rice balls was so bad.

"But, I thought it would taste better sweet," she said sadly.

However, before the girl could react, the childish thief suddenly slammed the remaining rice ball to the ground and began stomping it angrily.

"No! Stop! Stop!" the girl tried desperately to stop him, she fell to her knees and tried to reach out for the now ruined rice ball, yet she couldn't. For all she cared for the food she made she couldn't push herself to take a hit for it.

Zoro looked at the scene along with the pirates outside of the wall while the girl had tears in her eyes.

"I tried to make them with all of my heart," the girl cried as she looked at the remaining of the rice ball once the bastard finally stopped ruining it.

The food thief and destroyer, however, was paying no mind to her feelings as he pulled out a paper. "You haven't read the poster yet?" he asked as he looked at her from the side and held onto his head with his left hand. "Anyone who helps the criminal will be executed. Marine Captain Morgan," the words he spoke made girl's eyes widen. "You know who my father is right?" son of some Morgan asked as he turned to the marine behind him.

"Father?" Luffy questioned.

"A spoiled brat," Vergil growled, he was starting to figure out the dynamics here.

"You. Toss that brat out," spoiled brat ordered making the marine sweat.

"But she is just a girl," the marine tried to argue.

"I'm telling you to toss her outside! Are you disobeying my orders?! I'll tell my father!" and he wasn't showing much more respect for his subordinates, in fact, he threatened as he held marine's collar. His words left no choice for the marine.

With the short-term rebellion out of the way, it was clear what would happen. "Yes, right away!" marine obeyed and Helmeppo let go of him; he walked up to the girl who took a step back.

"No!" the girl screamed. It was futile; no scream could reach the terrified servant.

"Luffy, can I?" Vergil requested while clenching the wall and breaking off a bit of it.

"Sure," Luffy grinned approvingly.

"Little girl, I'm sorry for having to hurt you," the marine apologized as he reached out to grab the girl.

"Touch her and it will be the last thing you do," Vergil announced his presence, right next to the marine.

Zoro's eyes widened as the marines stood frozen in shock.

"Hey, you! Do you have any idea who my father is?! He'll have you executed before you even blink!" the blond was oblivious to Vergil's identity as he glared at the devil.

His followers though, were somewhat aware. "S-Sir maybe you should back away?"

"Huh?! Do you want me to tell father that you gave me an order?!" the man raged, stomping on the ground to 'prove' his point.

"Forget brat, a spoiled toddler. That's what you are," Vergil sighed and looked at the girl. "Let's go," he spoke a bit softer before picking the girl up and walking back to the wall.

Helmeppo laughed. "See! He's terrified!"

"Who are you big brother?" the girl asked as she looked at Vergil.

"I'm not a big brother, I'm Leonidas Vergil," he stated and jumped over the wall.

"Thank you for saving me," she smiled brightly causing the devil to ruffle her hair a bit and grin.

Luffy walked over as well and his eyes met with Vergil's. They had an understanding. "Wait here for a bit, we'll be right back."

_**~X~**_

The glare Zoro was directing at Helmeppo would scare most people, even if he was tied up. "You bastard," Zoro spat at the onion-headed male. If he wasn't tied up Zoro would have, at the very least, punched Helmeppo into the ground. Even if the girl was saved by that devil it was a matter of fact that Helmeppo was willing to put her in harm's way.

"Hehehehe!" Helmeppo merely laughed as he walked by Zoro completely oblivious to the glare and anger radiating from the swordsman. "But man you are really stubborn to still be alive," Helmeppo admitted. "You'll stay here for an entire month."

"Yeah, just make sure you keep your word," Zoro reminded him.

"Sure, sure, I'll let you go if you survive for a month! Hehehehe," Helmeppo began laughing again as he walked away followed by two marines.

Zoro glanced at the stomped rice ball if only he could reach it. Well, there was nothing he could do and the girl's work would go to waste. At least he would have his peace for some time.

Or so he hoped. As he lifted his head up again he realized he had a lot of visitors today. First these two on the wall, then the girl, then the stupid son and now these two again.

"So you are a bad guy?" the straw hat wearing kid asked curiously as he and the devil stood not too far away from Zoro.

"You two are still here?" Zoro questioned, though a bit more passively this time.

"But still being publicly humiliated like this. Are you really strong?" the nerve of this brat and his unreadable tone. Was he really mocking him now of all times?

"Mind your own business!" Zoro snapped at him.

The two walked up to Zoro. "If it was me I would have escaped in three days," the boy grinned, all the time he kept eye contact.

"You would have died from hunger in three days," the devil pointed out and teasingly jabbed the younger male's ribs.

"Shishishi. True!" Luffy agreed, clearly not offended by the statement.

"I'm different from you," Zoro said with a grin on his face. "I'll survive to show them. Definitely," Zoro announced making the male grin before he turned to leave.

"Eh? What a stubborn guy," perhaps he should have let them go, but they could help him with something.

"Wait a second," Zoro suddenly called them.

"What? Changed your mind?" the devil asked, smirking at him.

"That rice ball, give it to me," Zoro said and relished at the brief moment of surprise.

"Are you sure you want to eat this? It's all muddy," the younger male said as he picked up the rice ball, or well now, it was more like a mud and rice pancake.

"Shut up and give it to me!" Zoro yelled quickly losing patience with the two.

The food was thrown into his mouth and immediately Zoro began regretting it. It was barely edible but he forced it down his throat, mud, and dirt and everything. Immediately he began coughing, but it was worth it.

"Told you so," the boy told him.

"Tell that girl, 'Thanks for the food, it was good'," Zoro told him and the two pirates. "Also, devil. You have my thanks for interfering."

The devil rolled his eyes at that. "I don't need thanking for something like that."

* * *

_**Well, that's the first chapter. Let's see what you should take from this, first of all, Luffy will be stronger than at the start of manga, how much that will affect the story remains to be seen. This story will primarily focus on Vergil, so flashbacks, aside from a select few that serve a narrative purpose, will be absent. Finally, skipping Vergil and Luffy's meeting, I wrote that scene and then, after I thought about it and after taking into consideration something I plan on doing I decided to move It further into the story. Like way further, but it doesn't really affect the current plot so yeah, you'll see it later.**_

_**Now, the currency, svarog, one svarog equals five beri, so yeah, Kaltag just ate 50000 beri in one meal. Food, especially one made from ingredients from human world is really expensive in the demon world. The steak was three hundred and bread a hundred. A medium bottle of clean water contains a hundred milliliter and it costs two hundred svarog, so clean water is also expensive in most of the world. Just figured I should briefly mention that since it's going to be a while since its relevant again. **_


	2. Unusual pirates

_**Chapter 2 – Unusual pirates**_

* * *

Nami sat at the bar she came across, she snooped around the town and found enough escape routes as well as ways to get into the base. All she needed was to get inside and get the map. It felt wrong though, stealing from someone other than pirates. Marines, she didn't want to steal from them, they were her mother's comrades once after all. But that map would be a good way to get into a bigger pirate crew and steal their treasure.

Maybe even those two… If she could get a devil to intimidate some pirates she could just take their money. She sighed, absentmindedly looking at her drink, just a simple orange juice, it was just about right. Close to home, yet far enough at the same time.

"Something on your mind?" that voice sounded familiar. In a bad way.

Looking up she immediately narrowed her eyes. "Vergil."

The white-haired male grinned a bit. "Barely warmer than ice, eh? You must really hate my kind," he sounded as if he was… actually teasing her. The nerve of him. And then he even motioned at the chair on the opposite side of her table. "Mind if I sit down?" before she could snap at him he raised his hand. "I might have an offer for you."

She scoffed, not sure what to make of him. Eventually, she leaned back, raised her head slightly, and looked him right into those yellow eyes. "Fine," her tone was firm, confident, yet her arms were still crossed over her chest.

Vergil smiled and sat down, he placed his palms on the table. Likely so that she could see if he moved. She nearly glared at him, as if she would lower her guard just because he did that. "Look, we need a navigator,"

"Rejected, I won't join a pirate crew," not that easily anyway.

Vergil tilted his head the smallest smile indicated he was amused by her rejection. "At least hear me out. You like treasure and we can help you get it and you can help us go from one island to another," well, she would lie if she said she didn't consider it, regardless of how brief that moment of weakness was.

"Vergil! I'm making Zoro our Nakama!" Luffy's declaration brought Vergil's attention back to his captain, which allowed Nami to breathe out a sigh of relief.

The damned devil was just too relaxed for her to take him seriously.

Vergil stood up and looked at her. "At least think about it."

Well, if she saw them again, she figured she could give it a try. But only if she saw them again.

_**~X~**_

Once again Vergil and Luffy were in front of the marine base, ready to get Zoro out. Vergil spared a moment to look up at the top of the base, that was where the one in charge was. "I'm thankful," he suddenly spoke up, he had remained silent since Luffy told him about the plan to execute Zoro.

"Huh?" Luffy looked at him.

"I spent so much time with you; I nearly forgot humankind also has good and bad people," he admitted and absentmindedly looked up at the sky.

"Let's go," Luffy jumped over the wall and Vergil followed. Zoro being out in the open without anyone guarding him was fairly convenient.

When they reached their soon to be Nakama they saw his abruptly waking up.

"Yo!" Luffy greeted him.

"Hm? You again? The two of you have too much free time," Zoro said, though this time he didn't even sound that annoyed by the uninvited guests,

"I'm going to untie you. And you will become my Nakama," Luffy stated as he walked up to Zoro.

"What did you say?" Zoro seemed surprised at Luffy's declaration.

"I'm looking for people to join my pirate crew," Luffy told him and from the tone, he spoke in it was obvious he believed that was the only explanation worth giving.

"I refuse. You want me to become a pirate? How annoying," Zoro refused him right away. It seemed like this would become a habit, people refusing at first. After all Vergil himself refused at first, Nami refused and now Zoro.

"What's wrong with being a pirate?" Luffy asked.

"Pirates are scum. Who'd want to be one of them?" Zoro retorted without skipping a beat.

"That's fine right. You're already known as an evil pirate hunter," Luffy pointed out.

"I've never regretted anything I did. I don't care about what society thinks. I will survive! I will do what I want to do!" Zoro announced with a smirk present on his face as sweat rolled down his face.

"Huh," Luffy mumbled a bit. "Is that so? But I've already decided that you'll be my Nakama," Luffy informed Zoro as he turned a bit away from the green-haired man and looked up, to this Vergil grinned.

"You can't decide that on your own!" Zoro snapped at him.

"Don't bother, when he decides on something like this there is no arguing. It's like your first order," Vergil told him casually.

"You use sword right?" Luffy asked. His attention was once again back on Zoro.

Zoro calmed down slightly, perhaps understanding that arguing with Luffy would be too much of a waste of energy. "Yes. But that stupid son took them."

"We'll go get them for you," Vergil stated when he noticed the look in Luffy's eyes.

"And when we do you'll become our Nakama," Luffy added making Zoro snap again.

"You really are dense aren't you?!" the green-haired man yelled.

"Nah, he is just stubborn," Vergil said. He looked to the side, at the base, and then back at Zoro. "Better than being naïve like you though."

Zoro narrowed his eyes. "What did you say?"

"That stupid brat is going to execute you in three days," Vergil cut to the point offering Zoro a dose of cold reality.

"What are you saying? If I survive for a month they'll let me go. That stupid son promised me!" Zoro himself didn't sound all that convinced after all this wasn't some honorable man they were talking about.

"You don't have to believe it," Luffy said, letting Zoro choose what to do.

"You two… Who are you?" Zoro asked, curious, but also willing to somewhat consider their offer.

"Leonidas Vergil, Luffy's first mate," Vergil introduced himself proudly.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy. A man that will become the Pirate King," Luffy announced with the same confidence and conviction he always had when he said that.

And Zoro, Zoro was flabbergasted. "Become the Pirate King?! Do you understand what you are saying?" Zoro asked while the two pirates looked at him.

"The Pirate King is the Pirate King. What else could it mean?" Luffy asked as he grinned at Zoro.

"Trust me; he is completely aware of what he is saying," Vergil replied.

Zoro grunted at that.

"So? What's it going to be? But if we fight together you'll owe me. Being killed by marines or coming with me… Which one do you pick?" Luffy was sort of blackmailing him. And he did it without a hint of shame.

Vergil suppressed a chuckle. "Nice, Luffy," he said with a smirk.

"You are a son of the devil," Zoro remarked with a smirk on his face.

"Actually that's me," Vergil butted in.

"Still. I'd rather be a pirate than die here!" the green-haired swordsman gave them the answer.

Luffy grinned and threw his arms up. "Great! You'll be our Nakama!"

"I get it! Now get going before marines see you here!" Zoro snapped at the younger boy.

"Maybe we should free you right away? If we cause ruckus you'll be a sitting duck if you're standing here tied to a post," Vergil pointed out.

"If you free me you'll definitely get their attention," Zoro argued although he could see the positive and negative sides to both plans.

"We'll free you either way," Luffy decided as he tried to untie the knots.

Zoro sighed, resigning to the whim of his unofficial captain.

"Let me," Vergil stepped in and grabbed the ropes. He concentrated on creating electricity and a couple of moments later ropes were destroyed.

Zoro looked at his now free arms. "What did you do?" he asked, rather confused as to what exactly Vergil did.

"I channeled electricity into my hands, enough to burn through the ropes but not enough for it to spread through the area. You won't find a demon or a devil alive that has better control over lightning than me," Vergil bragged as he lifted his arm up and allowed a small spark to circle around his right fist.

"Alright! Let's go find the swords!" the straw hat wearing captain began running, in the wrong direction.

"Luffy! The base is in the opposite direction!" Vergil called out to the rubber man.

Luffy stopped and turned to Vergil for a moment. "**Gomu Gomu No**…" Luffy began as he stretched out his hands.

Vergil sighed as he knew exactly what was going to happen, he ducked under the arms and prepared. He resigned to what was about to happen. "Hesitation will only hurt more," he warned.

Zoro looked in utter disbelief. "Wait, what do you mean? What is he?" Zoro was yet to fully understand what was about to happen. He looked at Vergil and then back at Luffy and then realized Luffy was getting closer.

"**Rocket!**" Luffy yelled as he shot over Vergil who grabbed onto Luffy's vest and flew through the area along with the rubber man. Of course, Zoro, who had no way of knowing what was about to happen was just swept along for the ride.

"So that's… what you were saying," he groaned as he was swept along for the ride.

The landing was, far from legendary; they somehow landed on their feet but skidded across the ground and crashed into some crates.

"We need to work on that," Vergil grunted as he listened to Luffy laughing.

"How about we just, I don't know, stop doing that?" Zoro suggested in a tired tone, this day really wasn't that good for him so far.

Vergil glanced at Zoro. "Doubt that's possible."

"Shishishi, that was fun," the rubber man was unaffected by the impact and about as cheerful as always.

Zoro facepalmed at that. "I'm following an idiot."

"All right! Let's go find the swords!" Luffy exclaimed and ran off.

Vergil and Zoro, without having anything else to do simply followed their captain. Surprisingly they ran up to the base without any obstacle to attempt standing in their way.

"Strange, there's no one here," Luffy realized, no matter how much he looked left, right or in any other direction around them, there was still no one. "We've got to find that stupid son so we can get Zoro's swords."

"Let's go up," Vergil suggested.

"Yeah, let's go take a look," Luffy said as he suddenly wrapped his arm around Zoro's neck and grabbed onto the collar of Vergil's shirt. His other arm stretched and he grabbed onto the edge of the building.

"Wait!" Zoro tried to stop him, at least for a moment.

"Just go with it; resisting is futile," Vergil advised him.

"Why are you so used to this?!" Zoro demanded.

"**Gomu Gomu No Rocket**!" Luffy exclaimed as he, Zoro, and Vergil easily reached over the building.

Zoro glared at the rubber man, honestly too hungry to put up an actual resistance.

Vergil, on the other hand, looked at Zoro, he must have gone through some tough training if his neck didn't break from Luffy's stunt.

"We are flying!" Luffy cheered.

Vergil looked around. "How will we land anyway?" the devil had to ask.

"No idea," Luffy shrugged, he was rubber after all.

Vergil looked down and then saw it. A statue that was being pulled up into the air. "How did we miss that?"

Zoro's head snapped to the side and his jaw dropped slightly. "You didn't notice that?!"

"Nope," Vergil admitted though he was feeling a bit embarrassed at that. "It'll do for landing," he used enough power to push all three of them through the air with a burst of lightning. They landed on the upper half of the statue, much to Vergil's pleasure, with enough force to send it crashing down. Before it could fall down though Vergil, Zoro and Luffy safely landed on the roof of the building.

"I'm sorry," Luffy apologized when he noticed the marines there.

"I'm not," Vergil added casually.

"Neither am I," Zoro could agree with the devil.

"Capture them! I will kill them myself!" Morgan, Helmeppo's father, hollered, barely registering that Zoro was amongst his arch enemies.

"Yes sir!" marines saluted as Helmeppo recognized the trio.

"Father! That's him! That's the guy that punched me! And there's Roronoa Zoro! He escaped!" Helmeppo accused as he pointed at Luffy who appeared in front of Helmeppo.

"We've been looking for you. Come on we need something to be returned!" Luffy said as he grabbed a screaming Helmeppo and began running for the doors on the roof.

"Wait, why are we running?" Zoro's eye twitched at the hyperactive captain's behavior.

Vergil shrugged. "If they accidentally shoot that guy we'll have to search the entire base, I suppose," he tried to find logic in a seemingly unnecessary running.

Zoro huffed and followed after Luffy once again, with Vergil right behind him.

Inside the base, Luffy kept dragging Helmeppo across the floor as Vergil and Zoro ran next to them.

"Where are my swords?" Zoro demanded fiercely.

"You better say it now onion head before I force it out of you," Vergil casually threatened. He wouldn't go too far, but a small jolt of lightning, just enough to tingle the man, would most likely do the job.

"I'll tell you! I'll tell you. Just stop dragging me across the floor!" Helmeppo told them and three pirates stopped.

"Okay. Talk," Luffy said with a moderate amount of authority in his voice as Helmeppo lifted his arm and pointed behind them.

"In my room… We just passed it," Helmeppo told them and pointed down the corridor in the direction they came from.

"Why didn't you say so earlier, now we have to go back," Luffy complained, but as he turned he saw three unconscious marines and Vergil cracking his knuckles above them.

"That was refreshing," the white-haired devil said much to the amusement of the other two pirates.

"Shishishi," Luffy laughed as they went back and quickly enough found Helmeppo's room.

As they entered Helmeppo's room, which had 'My room' on the doors the trio easily located the three katana leaning against the wall as if they were Helmeppo's trophies.

Zoro immediately noticed the three katana against the wall.

"This one right?" Luffy asked as he looked around.

"I suppose," Vergil replied.

"Hey which one is your sword?" Luffy asked when Zoro stepped forward to his katana.

"All three are mine, I use three swords," Zoro explained as he took the weapons and strapped them to his hip.

At this Vergil looked a bit puzzled but then shuddered. '_I suppose there is a way to do it,'_ his attention went to the battalion of Marines waiting at the gates, behind them stood their captain. "You know… I really don't feel like sneaking out of here. Why act like they are stronger than us?" he pointed out.

_**~X~**_

As the three pirates casually walked towards the marines Vergil couldn't help but enjoy the look of pure unadulterated rage displayed on Morgan's face.

"Shoot them!" Morgan ordered.

Luffy grinned and took the bullets for his Nakama, shocking Zoro. "It won't work!" he shouted as bullets ricocheted back.

"What's with those guys?" one of the marines asked in fear.

"The bullets were ineffective." another one pointed out his voice trembling in fear as well.

"That guy with the straw hat isn't a normal human. It seems he ate one of the Devil Fruits," Morgan reasoned finding that to be the only possible explanation as to why bullets didn't work. "Devil Fruit. It is said that whoever eats one will obtain unbelievable power. The power to breathe fire, the power to create tsunamis. There are so many rumors about the Devil Fruits. Too many to know which ones are actually true. The secret is supposedly in the Grand Line."

Suddenly Vergil shot a ball of lightning right past Morgan's face making the marine captain freeze. "You talk too much," the devil smirked as he charged up his electricity.

Naturally, this angered the man. "It doesn't matter who he is! If he opposes me than he will be executed! If the guns don't work, then cut them all into pieces!" Morgan ordered and as they were told marines charged with swords in their hands and with a battle cry ran toward the group.

Neither Luffy nor Vergil moved, instead Zoro rushed forward and stopped the advancement of the marines. His back was turned to the marines as he held two swords in his hands and one in his mouth.

"Roronoa Zoro!" Morgan cursed.

"Whoa cool!" Luffy exclaimed as he watched Zoro in awe.

"Make one move and you are dead!" Zoro informed the marines threateningly.

At this the marines began crying out of utter fear. "I'm so scared," one of them actually cried out.

"I promised I'll be a pirate," Zoro began as he turned his attention to Luffy and Vergil. "Opposing marines will make me a wanted man. But let me tell you one thing, I will always follow my ambition."

"Ambition?" Luffy questioned curiously.

"To become the world's greatest swordsman. If you do anything that would cause me to abandon my ambitions… You will end your life on my sword!" Zoro announced but Luffy just smiled.

"The world's greatest swordsman? That's nice! As the Pirate King's comrade, I wouldn't expect anything less from you!" Luffy told him, this worked perfectly for Luffy.

To this Zoro once again smirked. "Heh, indeed. It doesn't matter if it's as a devil or a saint. My name will be heard throughout the entire world!" Zoro declared.

Vergil smirked at his declaration, but he wasn't too pleased with the overall situation. Sure, all three of them were strong, but they were just standing there, chatting in the middle of a battle with enemies ready to charge at them any moment now. It didn't sit well with Vergil, but given the importance of conversation, he simply chose to keep an eye on the marines.

"Why are you all standing there?! Execute them all right now!" Morgan roared at his subordinates who cringed in fear.

"Duck! Zoro!" Luffy said as he prepared to strike.

Zoro's eyes widened a bit before he did as he was told.

"**Gomu Gomu No Whip**!" Luffy exclaimed as he took out all the marines and sent them back to Morgan with a kick to the side.

"Alright, just tell me what are you?" Zoro finally took a moment to ask as he looked at Luffy.

"I ate Gomu Gomu no mi," Luffy told him as he held his foot up in the air.

"Gomu Gomu no mi?" Zoro repeated, from the looks of it he did get the gist of what that meant.

The crew of now three pirates turned to marines as Morgan grew angrier. "This is the captain's order! Anyone who is complaining shoot yourself in the head! This military officer has no need for the weaklings like you!" Morgan yelled as he lifted his ax hand.

Zoro took a battle stance. "What's with these marine soldiers?" he asked but suddenly Luffy and Vergil ran past him.

"You can leave marines to me," Vergil said as he took the lead.

"Sure!" Luffy agreed.

Vergil took the first attack, rushing through and dealing with most of the marines, these guys were amateurs, a hit or two and they were down. But who'd waste all that time? Lightning circled his body, indicating that he was charging up electricity in his body. "**Discharge**," Vergil smirked as lightning burst from his body, electrifying and knocking out the marines. As Vergil halted in his advancement, Luffy kept going forward and attempted to punch Morgan. His punch was blocked by an ax hand. Vergil jumped back and joined Zoro, the swordsman took the sword that he was holding in his mouth. Both pirates were content with watching the battle as Morgan threw off his coat.

"A civilian with no rank is no match for me! I am the captain of the marines! Axe Hand Morgan!" Morgan hollered angrily.

Luffy, whose face was completely blank, responded in a way that only angered Morgan even further. "I'm Luffy, Nice to meet you."

At these words, Morgan swung his hand toward Luffy. "Die!" he yelled but Luffy jumped over him and landed behind Morgan who quickly turned around and slammed his ax into the ground. He wasn't fast enough, though, as Luffy dodged it quite easily. Luffy while still in the air joined his feet and slammed them onto Morgan's face sending the marine captain back. Morgan hit the ground, rolled back, but managed to steady himself.

"Brat!" Morgan shouted at Luffy. "Die!" he demanded as he attempted to hit Luffy, who was once again going toward him. In the last moment, Luffy dodged the attack and spun around quickly in the midair.

"Don't want to!" Luffy replied defiantly as he kicked Morgan much to the surprise of the other marines. Luffy proceeded to grab Morgan by the collar and punched him in the face.

Vergil and Zoro exchanged glances as a certain someone approached them. Zoro smirked and Vergil nodded subtly.

"Wait! Straw Hat! Look at this!" Helmeppo yelled but Luffy just punched Morgan again. "I told you to wait! Are you an idiot?" in the midst of trying to get Luffy's attention, Helmeppo, who held a gun pointed at Vergil's head, failed to notice one crucial detail.

Zoro, and the pommel of his sword, which ended up striking him in the back of the neck.

"Helmeppo-sama!" marines yelled as Helmeppo let out a scream.

"Shishishishi. Nice, Zoro," Luffy complimented the swordsman, then jumped up and joined his feet together. "**Gomu Gomu no Spear**!" he slammed his feet into Morgan's guts thus knocking the marine out.

"It was nothing, captain," Zoro replied with a grin on his face. "In fact, it was quite refreshing," he smirked as he glanced back at the onion headed male.

With Morgan and Helmeppo both knocked out marines looked at each other.

"They defeated Captain Morgan," one of the marines realized.

"If anyone wants to fight come at us now," Zoro challenged them as he sheathed his sword, but much to their surprise as marines looked at each other for a couple of moments one thing led to another and suddenly they were throwing their weapons and hats up in the air and cheering.

"What? Their captain was just defeated and they are rejoicing?" Luffy asked, surprised at the turn of events and he wasn't the only one Vergil looked confused as well.

"Maybe I put too much electricity into my attack and it messed their brains up," Vergil offered an explanation.

"Who knows," Luffy shrugged, not really caring one bit about this but suddenly Zoro grunted and fell down to the ground.

"I'm hungry," Zoro replied as he slowly opened his eyes.

_**~X~**_

With Morgan finally defeated townspeople gathered around the bar that Rika and her mother owned for a single reason, Luffy, Vergil, and Zoro were at the bar eating.

"I'm full!" came Zoro's satisfied voice. "That meal was worth not eating for nine days!" the swordsman exclaimed as he rubbed his stomach and leaned his back on the chair.

To this Rika and her mother laughed a bit while Vergil smirked.

Luffy, on the other hand, swallowed another bite. "Eh? Is that all you are going to eat?" the rubber captain questioned and Zoro pointed at the empty plates in front of Luffy.

The swordsman raised an eyebrow. "I don't understand how you can eat more than me?" Zoro couldn't help but ask.

"He's a bottomless pit, that's why," Vergil commented as he drank a glass of water.

"Because it's good," Luffy pointed out, complimenting the cook along the way.

"You were really amazing back there!" Rika said to Luffy who was still eating.

"Yeah! I'm great! I'll be even more awesome; after all, I'm going to become the Pirate King. I found a new Nakama as well!" Luffy told her as he turned to look at Zoro who was looking at him curiously before giving him a half-grin.

"So? How many crew members do we have?" Zoro asked. "I remember you saying that you are looking for a crew. If you are trying to become a Pirate King than you must have a crew already," Zoro reasoned before looking at Vergil. "Surely a devil wouldn't follow someone that's just starting so easily."

"If we count you than there's three of us," Vergil answered shocking the swordsman.

"Wha…? Then," Zoro tried to form words as he pointed at Luffy, then at Vergil and finally at himself.

"Yes, the three of us," Luffy confirmed it without a single bit of worry over that fact.

"Can we be pirates with just the three of us?" Zoro asked finally overcoming his shock.

"What does it matter? We are all strong," Luffy told him and he was right, a handful of extremely strong individuals could easily take down a lot of average ones.

"Pirate ship? How about our pirate ship?" Zoro asked now questioning if joining up with the two pirates was such a good idea after all as Luffy shrugged.

"We lost it. Well, something will work out," Luffy said without a care in the world causing Vergil to smirk yet again.

"What?" Zoro asked in disbelief as he looked at the duo. "Lost it?"

"I'll get us a big one soon!" Luffy exclaimed as he showed with his hands that their next ship would be a big one.

Zoro began laughing. "How?" he asked the captain once he stopped laughing.

"I want a pirate flag as well," Luffy completely ignored Zoro as he placed more food into his mouth. He was daydreaming about being on a huge ship with his soon to be a flag and a sword in his hand.

"He's completely ignoring you. We'll find a ship, I'm still not sure where or how though," Vergil replied to Zoro who nodded. That was pretty much the only option he had at the moment. There was no backing away now.

"How cool!" Luffy stopped daydreaming and commented on his imaginary ship as Vergil sighed but then a grin formed on his face and Zoro placed his hand over his forehead.

"Am I really going to follow this guy?" Zoro asked himself

"Yeah, do a smart thing and just accept it. Trust me, it helps," Vergil gave him a piece of advice.

"We are going to get more Nakama as we go," Luffy told them.

"Where are you guys going to go now?" Rika asked earning Luffy's attention.

"Isn't it obvious? We are going to the Grand Line!" Luffy answered within a moment.

"I heard from the customers that those who enter the Grand Line never return," Rika's mother said as she walked up to the three.

Luffy, as cheerful as ever and still smiling looked at them. "But One Piece is there somewhere so we'll have to go."

"Well, we don't have a choice," Zoro stated casually.

"It'll be fine, I don't know what kind of place Grand Line is, but we can handle it," Vergil said completely unaware of everything that they would come to experience in the Grand Line.

Suddenly, the doors opened and revealed a battalion of marines led by Ripper, the marine commander. The average looking man, with tan skin, brown hair beard, and mustache looked at the group for a moment before stepping in. "Excuse me," he began turning the attention toward him. "Is it true that you guys are pirates?" he asked, his posture formal and face stoic as he waited for the answer.

"Yeah. I just found a new Nakama. We are pirates!" Luffy replied honestly.

"We are very grateful that you saved us from the clutches of Morgan. However, now that we know that you are pirates we can't look the other way," Ripper informed them as he pulled down his hat a bit. "You must leave this town right away! We owe you our lives so we will not contact the headquarters," Ripper told them earning a small revolt from the citizens.

"You guys were also controlled by Morgan!"

"Those people saved our lives!"

"Right, right!" people tried to change the decision of the marines as Rika and her mother looked at the scene.

"No, the marine is right. We should go," Vergil calmed them down as Luffy grinned.

"Well, let's go," Luffy said and stood up. "Thanks for the food!" he thanked Rika's mother.

"Are you guys leaving already?" Rika asked, sad that they would go.

"Yeah," Luffy told her as he, Vergil, and Zoro began leaving.

_**~X~**_

A gust of wind blew through the street as the three pirates walked toward the harbor. Luffy held his straw hat safely on his head.

"Now! We are well on our way to becoming pirates!" Luffy said happily, there wasn't much in this world that could make him happier right now.

"It looks like it's going to be one hell of an adventure," Zoro predicted, a bit less eager than his captain, but still eager.

"It just started but I suppose you are right," Vergil added as Luffy grinned.

"I will become. The Pirate King!" Luffy declared confidently yet again.

"You are always rambling about becoming the Pirate King… Is there a particular reason?" Zoro asked curiously as he arched his eyebrow.

"Nope, no reason. But," Luffy began.

"But?" Zoro urged him to continue.

"I made a vow to that man!" Luffy stated as he remembered the moment at which he received his straw hat. "To form an amazing crew. To find the greatest treasure. And become the Pirate King!" his voice kept getting stronger and stronger as he went on. "This straw hat knows it all!" he finished as he let go of his precious hat and it remained on his head.

"I see," Zoro said. He turned to Vergil. "What about you? You must have a reason for this journey. What do you want?"

Vergil clenched his fists for a brief moment, his eyes showing the unyielding determination. "I'm here just to see this world. My mother grew up here so I'd like to see it. I'd like to go to Praevalitana, an island she was born on," he explained, all things considered, that really was all he wanted to do with his life.

Zoro nodded, it wasn't an ambitious goal, it was a simple one, and he could respect that.

Luffy grinned. "Alright! Let's go! Grand Line! Here I come!" Luffy declared loudly.

"We still don't have a way off this island though," the devil pointed out flatly.

_**~X~**_

Nami was down at the small harbor jumping down into one of the boats. She unfolded the supposed to be map once again to read. 'I have flashily taken the map. Captain Buggy,' was written, she smiled for a moment. The treasure she could steal from Buggy would be worth the risk. She looked towards the city and realized Luffy and Vergil, along with a green-haired swordsman, were coming closer. Well, Vergil did offer her a place on the crew…

It was obvious the two pirates recognized her as well. Luffy grinned and though the devil didn't seem nearly as excited he still seemed fairly glad to see her.

"Hey, Nami!" Luffy raised his arms as he greeted her happily.

"Who is she?" Zoro asked the first mate.

"Nami. She saved us when we lost our boat," Vergil explained as they reached her.

"You want to go to the Grand Line, right?" Nami cut to the point and threw the bait.

"Hm? Yeah!" Luffy replied right away.

Nami smirked. "I know where to find a map of the Grand Line," it was an obvious offer, that much was for sure.

"Map?" Luffy muttered as he seemed to realize something. "So you'll be our navigator?"

"I'm the best navigator you'll ever meet! And your first mate did make an offer I can't refuse," Nami bragged, although she did have a reason to brag. She looked at Vergil. "You will keep your word, right, devil?"

"Of course," Vergil nodded.

"I see! That's perfect!" Luffy said. "We can be pirates together!"

"Hey now, hold your horses. I'm never going to become a pirate. I told you I hate pirates and devils more than anything in the world! I like money and tangerines!" Nami announced without a hint of care over saying that in front of people that were pirates, or that one of them was in fact, a devil. "But, we can cooperate; think of it as an alliance."

"Sure," Luffy grinned and they high-fived.

"Luffy, she might be trying to trick you," Zoro pointed out a logical possibility, and while Nami did plan on tricking them she wasn't going to show that.

Vergil looked at Luffy. "There is a demon lurking somewhere in the sea and we do owe her for saving us. And we need someone to navigate," he explained some reasoning behind Luffy's easy acceptance of the alliance.

Nami glanced at Vergil, she heard some rumors about a demon lurking in the sea, but now that she heard it from an actual devil she was a bit more convinced. Even if it would be only temporarily teaming up with them would give her a bit of reassurance.

The four set sail with Nami leading the way to Buggy's current location.

"Everyone, salute!" suddenly they heard Ripper's voice as the marines all saluted to the four leaving pirates.

"Now this is a sight that you have to see to believe it," Vergil said with a grin.

"I've never heard of a marine thanking a pirate before," Zoro commented.

"Neither have I," Nami agreed as Luffy laughed.

They set sail and their boat sailed out of the harbor as Luffy waved at the Marines. "See ya!" Luffy shouted.

_**~X~**_

A pirate ship was up in flames far from any island and right next to it was a marine ship twice as big as a regular marine ship.

"And thus, Alvida Pirates, perish from the world," a man with cold yellow eyes, a devil, said as he sat down in front of the remaining survivor. The captain herself, Alvida. Not too far away from him was a small, timid, pink-haired boy. "See, Koby, pirates like her are the ones I shall not leave alive," he turned to the boy. "Will you become my subordinate?"

Koby gulped, but this was what he wanted for so long, to become a marine. "Yes, captain Enji!"

"Good, your training starts tomorrow," he turned his attention back to Alvida who was trembling at the sight of him. Truly the mixture of dark red and golden hair that went up like a flame and those eyes of a devil couldn't be neutralized even by a marine uniform. "You chose a wrong path," he said coldly and a long, bone-chilling scream later Alvida was swallowed by flames.

_**~X~**_

"No way, Luffy can't swim," Vergil firmly rejected Nami's plan. He couldn't believe how low she'd go, a small boat with pirates was approaching them and she wanted him, Zoro and Luffy in the water. Then, when they heard signal Vergil was supposed to attack the pirates.

Nami placed her hands on her hips. "So what? Zoro can hold him. It won't take too long," she waited for a response but he was quite obviously giving her the silent treatment, for now. "Come on, help me rob those pirates and I'll give you back your machete, for now."

Vergil's eye twitched as he looked at the orange-haired girl.

"Why don't we just beat them up," Zoro questioned.

"You guys need to figure out a stealthier approach to things," Nami argued much to Vergil's annoyance.

"Or she just wants to see us shirtless," the devil grumbled only to see Nami's eyes widening.

Zoro laughed as Nami quickly turned her attention back to him. "Why would I ever want to see a devil half naked?! Go and attack them then!" she hissed.

Vergil chuckled menacingly. "I'll take the stealthy approach," he jumped into the water. "Sorry, Luffy," he smiled apologetically at his captain.

"Nah, it'll be fine," Luffy dismissed it and actually voluntarily jumped into the water followed by still chuckling Zoro.

The three pirates lingered in the water for roughly a minute. Finally, a sound of chest opening was heard by all three of them. That was his signal.

Vergil jumped out of the water and electrified the three pirates. He kicked them off and landed on the boat. Zoro emerged from the water, Luffy safely holding onto him as they climbed back onto the boat.

"You do have some use, huh? Aside from that mouth of yours," Nami grumbled at the white-haired male, not even treasure could heal the wounded pride at his previous remark.

"You tricked us!" the first pirate hollered at them as the two boats began drifting away.

"Dark, low clouds indicating an approaching cold front have been sighted to the south," she began as she looked to the south. "Heavy rain will soon begin to fall accompanied by a gusty squall. Small boats in the area should beware of the capsizing!" Nami told them as clouds accompanied by a roar of thunder came above the three pirates. The rain began falling down upon them and the pirates screamed. "Bingo!" Nami cheered as she raised her thumb up. "See ya! Thanks for the treasure!" she sweetly bid her farewell to them.

"Wait! You bitch!" the first one yelled after her.

"We won't forget this!" the second one hollered but the last part came more as a gurgle…

"That was still a dirty trick," Vergil pointed out, though he was impressed with how the girl predicted the weather. He charged lightning through his skin to dry his clothes and then did the same for Luffy. "Sorry, you're not immune to lightning," he apologized to Zoro.

"Don't worry about it," the green-haired male dismissed it and sat down. Heat would be enough.

Nami smirked as she tossed him his demon forged. "We've got an extra boat and you've got your weapon back. Most importantly I got more treasure."

"I guess," he sighed, accepting the results they got, though that didn't mean he liked this.

_**~X~**_

A sword floating calmly in the eye of a tornado. He could see it, the shashka, a single-edged, sword without a guard. A weapon somewhere between a full sabre and a straight sword, Perun.

Vergil's eyes snapped open and he found himself on the boat with Luffy and Zoro. '_A dream huh?'_ he couldn't help but wonder what happened back then as he looked at the sky.

"Vergil!" Zoro called out to the white-haired devil that was finally brought out of his thoughts.

"Sorry. I kind of got lost in the thoughts," he apologized as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "What did you say?"

"I said that I thought at least you had some common sense here," Zoro repeated.

"I aim to disappoint," the devil smirked.

"You too. Aren't you a notorious pirate hunter?" Luffy turned Zoro's attention back to himself as he pointed out Zoro's previous occupation.

"I don't recall ever being a pirate hunter," Zoro replied and also looked up to the sky. "I set out searching for a man, but I got lost and couldn't go back to my village," he admitted, it would probably be the last or one of the last times he'd ever accept and admit that he got lost. "I had no other choice but to hunt down pirates for the reward."

"What so you were lost?" Luffy questioned as Zoro got angry and slammed his foot down.

"Don't say it like that!" Zoro yelled causing Nami to look at the trio incredulously.

"You said it exactly like that too," Vergil reminded Zoro recalling exactly how the swordsman said 'I got lost.' However, the boat swayed violently for a couple of moments and that resulted in Luffy's straw hat falling off of his head. It slowly got raised up by the wind as three pirates' eyes widened.

"Ah!" "Huh?" "Hmm?" as the hat went up Luffy muttered a single name.

"Shanks," a name slipped past Luffy's lips as Vergil jumped up after the straw hat.

"Got it," Vergil said as he caught the straw hat and handed it back to Luffy.

"Thank you, Vergil," Luffy thanked him as he sat down again and looked fondly at the straw hat in his hands before placing his precious hat back onto his head.

"It's precious to you, isn't it. Don't drop it again," Zoro told him, he wasn't scolding Luffy or anything, he was simply stating the fact.

"Yeah. I won't," Luffy said with a large grin on his face.

As they kept sailing Nami noticed a smaller pirate ship not too far away sailing in their direction. "Alright, Vergil, treasure stealing time!"

"What did I get myself into?" Vergil groaned. And then the world stopped for him.

_**~X~**_

"Come on, you promised," Nami reminded the devil but a sudden thud behind her made her turn around.

"Oi, Vergil! What's wrong?" Zoro was immediately by Luffy's side and Luffy was holding Vergil from falling down. The devil was on his knees and even this far from him Nami could see he was trembling and hear his shaky breaths.

"What's happening to him?" she asked as Luffy reached out behind Vergil's neck and squeezed something.

Luffy looked worried, though he was surprisingly calm and serious. "Come on," he mumbled and lowered Vergil down, though he made sure he kept holding onto Vergil's neck from behind.

"Luffy? Did this happen before?" clearly Zoro understood Luffy wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, despite barely knowing the boy.

Nami was just as surprised by Luffy's apparently trained reaction to whatever happened to his first mate.

"Yeah," he paused for a moment, looking intently at Vergil. "He'll be fine when he wakes up," he didn't sound like he doubted his own words, but he still looked worried. His straw hat shadowed his eyes but Nami could see the way Luffy's hand trembled.

_'He doesn't like doing that, even if it somehow helps,'_ she realized and sat down, she didn't understand why Luffy seemed so close with a devil.

_**~X~**_

Nami woke up abruptly in the middle of the night to see Vergil leaning against the mast; the devil didn't notice or at least didn't show that he noticed her awakening. Not that she could really tell since his head was lowered. She watched as he finally lifted his head and sighed. He stood up and went over to Luffy and Zoro. Those two actually managed to toss their blankets off. Nami watched as he covered the two pirates that just kept snoring. "You bounced right back," she stated.

"I did," Vergil stated as he sat back down, however, this time he was sitting closer to Nami.

It was a moderately cold night, cold enough that she needed the blanket even now that she was sitting, leaning against the miniature cabin's wall. And here he was, wearing a T-shirt.

"Luffy looked worried," she wanted to see his reaction, and she got it.

He raised his hand to his forehead, a shadow fell over his eyes but she could see the small flinch he couldn't suppress. "I know," he looked at his captain. "He actually got used to it, the first time that happened he… really freaked out," there was a pain in his voice, not physical but more emotional.

"He squeezed your neck," she pointed out, hoping to find out why.

The white-haired male nodded. "Neck's the weak spot."

Nami gave him an 'Are-you-serious' king of look. "Seriously Vergil?"

He actually jumped into her boat and leaned closer. Despite Nami moving back he reached out and touched the side of her neck, right next to the external jugular vein. "Feel that spot?"

She had nowhere to back away anymore; instead, she just took a deep breath. "What about it?" her voice held some defiance in it.

His eyes widened for a fraction of a moment at the tone of her voice. "Devils and humans have more or less the same anatomy, same organs, same body functions, except for this part here. The small area between the external jugular vein and the internal jugular vein in the middle of the neck. That's where small organs, similar to miniature livers for the lack of better comparison, are and that's where the power source is. See what I mean? It's the most vulnerable spot because any damage to that area can be fatal," the devil stated making Nami's eyes widen.

Some things started making sense to her, but it also raised some questions.

"Well, with enough strength any demon will at least be slowed down by putting pressure or making an injury near that spot. That's why demons, particularly devils, tend to reach out for the neck of the ones they are subjugating. It's a clear message, regardless of the meaning of the act." he pulled his hand back. "Sorry for making you uncomfortable." he apologized after sitting back down. On her boat though…

"So Luffy helped you by hurting you?" she found it kind of hard to believe that could be logical.

Vergil smirked at that. "He did. It helped to knock me out and then I just recovered."

It didn't make too much sense but it looked like that was all he was going to reveal. He even stood up and jumped back to the other boat.

* * *

_**Romance Dawn – Completed**_

* * *

_**And that's it, one arc down, I'm shifting more focus to scenes I can change, or show differently, as you can see with different perspectives and stuff. So far I've written Vergil's, obviously, Nami and Zoro's perspectives. I'm yet to tackle things from Luffy's perspective, that might be a bit more challenging. I'm still trying to find their voices, something to make them feel distinct from one another, I guess that'll come with time. **_

* * *

_**Answers on reviews:**_

_**Sagicknight – Thank you, yes, Nami filled Koby's role in that case. I felt it was more reasonable than giving Vergil an ability to navigate them exactly to Shell town in time. Luffy sure as hell isn't navigating and dumb luck isn't enough of an explanation.**_

_**Guest – Hopefully, you're right. Third time the charm. Thanks.**_

_**KP360 – Thanks for review.**_

_ **V: And tolerating my Author's knack for rewriting this for the third time.**_

_ **Yeah, that especially. Anyway, the summary, well, I can't really spoil it. It won't take too long to get there anyway. so if the schedule works I'll get there in less than a year.**_

_ **V: *6 months later* *impersonating his Author* Hey, guys, welcome to chapter 5…**_

_ **I am not going to do that!**_

_**C.S. Skywalker – Hey, thanks for review, I'm glad to see you like it so far.**_

_ **V: Hey, Dal, long time no see.**_

_ **Now, Nami, at the end of the first chapter didn't decide to go with Luffy and Vergil, as you've seen in this chapter she 'joined' in this one. But essentially, her motives are the same as in the manga, a couple of strong guys she could use to get more treasure. And out in the sea, well, I find it hard to imagine Nami just leaving someone to die for no reason. Run on sentences, got it, I'll keep that in mind, hopefully. As for darker, more serious tone, I guess I just write like that. I initially intended to up the rating to M, but I decided against it and changed it back to T. There will be jokes, don't worry about it.**_


	3. Dog's loyalty

_**Arc 2 – Orange Town**_

* * *

_**Chapter 3 – Dog's loyalty**_

* * *

The crew was bored, that much was clear as they simply spent time lying on their boats. There really wasn't much they could do. Luckily the island was roughly an hour away, at least according to Nami. Vergil didn't know one thing about that. She wasn't wrong up until now so there was that.

A shadow flew over their boats causing Luffy and Zoro to look up to the sky.

"A bird, eh," Zoro muttered, he didn't sound interested in the bird. It didn't matter to them in any way.

Vergil couldn't care less either, but he didn't count on his captain.

"Let's eat that bird!" Luffy decided with a large grin on his face.

"Huh?" Vergil glanced to the side, not really motivated to move any more than his eyes at the moment. Damned sunlight was annoying him and the Human World had plenty of it around here.

"How?" Zoro asked as he looked at Luffy.

"Leave it to me!" Luffy assured them as he stretched his arms and grabbed onto the sails.

"Be careful Luffy," Vergil warned the rubber man.

"**Gomu Gomu no… Rocket**!" Luffy yelled as he shot toward the bird.

"I see," Zoro said to himself.

Nami's eyes widened as she realized what just happened in front of her eyes. "What?! What is he?!"

"Luffy's a rubber man. He ate Gomu Gomu no mi, the Devil Fruit," Vergil explained.

To say that the orange-haired human was surprised would be an understatement. "Devil Fruit? Those aren't a myth?"

"Obviously," Vergil teased with a good-natured grin on his face.

"Shut your trap!" Nami threw an apple at him, it hit the side of Vergil's head and the devil's grin shifted into a smirk.

Getting Nami pissed off like she was now was probably his new hobby, all the violent reactions didn't hurt him one bit, more importantly, he was amused. "So easy," he chuckled and picked up the apple she threw at him.

"Aaah!" Luffy let out a loud yelp as two pirates and their navigator realized that Luffy's head was inside of the bird's beak. "Aaaahhhhh! Help me!" Luffy yelled as the bird flew away.

Vergil dropped the apple and his jaw opened against his will. "I'll be damned," he couldn't wrap his head around what just happened. One thing was sure, if there was payback for teasing Nami it was coming at him in the form of Luffy's genius.

"You idiot!" Nami yelled at Luffy and for once Vergil couldn't help but agree.

"You dumbass! What are you doing?!" Zoro yelled as well. "Can't you shoot the thing down with some demon powers or something?!" Zoro snapped at Vergil.

"I don't exactly like long-range attacks, but-" he took a deep breath and charged a ball of lightning above his hand, "get down here, feather face," the electricity burst forth and collided with the bird.

The electrified bird opened its beak and dropped Luffy. Hardly a moment later it plummeted down towards the ocean as well.

Zoro jumped into the water and Vergil brought the electricity back to normal. The devil jumped into the water just as Luffy and the bird collided with the surface.

Vergil grabbed the bird and began pulling it to the boats while Zoro took care of their laughing captain.

"Shishishi! Thanks!" yeah, he didn't really worry, at all. "And we've got food!"

Vergil shook his head, but he couldn't suppress the smile on his face.

"Don't try pulling it onto the boat, it's too big," Nami instructed him when they reached the boat.

Vergil's eyes widened slightly. "Good point. I don't really know much about human transportation," he pointed out and remained in the water with the dead bird.

It was a messy ordeal that made sure Nami's eyebrow kept twitching at the sight in front of her. Vergil managed to deal with the bird, but the process, seeing as the devil wasn't all that knowledgeable about the animals in the world he was currently sailing, well it wasn't going that smoothly.

"Why are there so many… feathers?" Vergil hissed as he honestly tried to keep the mess to a minimum, but the feathers sticking to him were a testament to a completely different outcome.

"How come you don't know how to skin a bird?" Nami asked and from the corner of his eye, Vergil could see her fighting back a smirk as he grumbled under his breath.

"I can skin a demon," he began as he accidentally popped some blood vessel and the blood nearly got into his eyes. "I've never skinned an animal before. There are differences," he grunted and for once felt rather frustrated with himself. Especially when a particularly violent stab made blood spurt and stain his left cheek and some of his hair. Seeing as his hair was completely white it really stood out.

"You sure you don't want help?" Zoro offered, mostly out of pity, the devil looked completely out of place at the moment.

"I absolutely refuse. To hell, if I'll let a bird get the better of me, especially a dead one," Vergil avowed fiercely as he continued dealing with the bird.

Finally, about half an hour later, Vergil was back on the boat, still somewhat bloody but with large pieces of bird meat on board. "Did those pirates have any wires or chains on their boat?"

"I'll check," Nami sighed and looked around, she did find some, not much but there was a chain tossed aside. "Here," she tossed it to the devil that just finished washing the blood off him.

"Thanks," he felt better, at least now he was in a more familiar position.

"How are we going to cook it anyway?" Zoro questioned, it wasn't like they could light a fire on their boats.

"Vergil's gonna electrocute it," Luffy explained.

"That's the gist of it," Vergil confirmed as he made sure the chain was clean. He made a few holes in the side frames of the boats and pulled the chain through each of the holes. He made sure the boats were far enough from one another and that the chain was loose enough. "Is this safe enough?"

"As long as it's not for too long. Drop the anchors Luffy, Zoro," Nami instructed them.

Vergil nodded and a small layer of darkness covered the holes in the boats, surrounding the chain that went through them in the process. Carefully he placed the meat on the chain and proceeded to salt it. He channeled electricity through the chain, heating it up.

A bit less than half an hour later Vergil fell back, exhausted from the extended use of lightning. He took a deep breath and bit off a chunk of meat.

"All things considered, it's not bad," Zoro commented then turned to Nami. "You mentioned a map to the Grand Line. How are you going to get it?"

"Steal it," Nami stated bluntly.

"So you are a burglar," Luffy figured out.

"Don't be rude! I only steal from pirates! Don't compare me to a common burglar," Nami took great offense to that.

"But a thief is a thief." Luffy pointed out.

Nami frowned and looked a bit to the side. "I need to save up 100 million beri no matter what."

"What are you going to do with all that money?" Luffy asked her, clearly he didn't know the meaning of a personal question.

"It's a secret," Nami answered as she turned away from the trio.

"You've got a plan, right? I'll help you get that map," Vergil suddenly stated. He wasn't sure what to do with the information he got, both the one about Nami stealing from pirates and the one about 100 million.

Nami looked at him and for once he couldn't properly read her expression. "If it's just the two of us we can do it. Listen up."

Still, he nodded, whatever she had in mind, as long as it got them closer to their goal. Plus, he did promise to help her steal.

_**~X~**_

Vergil stood on the roof of a surprisingly deserted town, he didn't see a single person besides their crew anywhere near. He was waiting to see Nami, though that didn't mean he couldn't take in the town, it was nice, to say the least. He guessed it was a nice place to live in before. Sound of running caught his attention and there she was, running with a rolled-up paper in her hand. She was followed by only three people and they were screaming at her.

Vergil jumped down and Nami ran past him. Lightning emerged around Vergil's body and discharged, making the pirates halt. The devil dashed forward, kicking the tallest pirate in the jaw.

"You bastard!" the second pirate yelled and tried to cut him. Vergil moved to the side and punched him in the guts, making him double over. Thus, there was only one left, and a single outburst of lightning was enough to knock him out.

"This is ridiculous," Vergil commented and threw the pirates into a house, just to make sure they weren't found right away. "Are you okay?" he turned to Nami.

"Of course," she grinned, showing him the map.

The devil smirked. "So, what now?"

"We'll wait for a bit, I have a few things I want to do before we can leave," Nami informed him.

Vergil didn't question it, though he did raise an eyebrow. Honestly, he thought they'd just take the map and leave.

_**~X~**_

Luffy stuffed his mouth with some rather tasty food as Nami leaned back against the table. Vergil and Zoro were on the roof, making sure no pirates were lurking around.

"Tasty!" Luffy exclaimed.

Nami looked outside the window, now she had a map, but Buggy had a lot of treasure, a treasure she needed. "You know I might just reconsider your offer and permanently join your crew if you do me a little favor," she began and walked up to the pirate captain as Luffy turned to her once again.

"Really?" Luffy asked. "Whatever you want!" he agreed rather easily.

"Follow me," Nami motioned toward the doors and Luffy quickly obeyed. "We're going to get some things done!" she exclaimed as she and Luffy stepped out and the other two looked down from the roof. "We'll come back in an hour or two."

Vergil and Zoro exchanged a glance; there wasn't any harm in that, Luffy was stronger than either of them.

"Sure," Vergil replied, not really taking into consideration that Luffy was also more gullible than the two of them.

As soon as the two got far away from Vergil and Zoro, Nami put her plan into action. "I want you to come with me to see Buggy the pirate. But first," she said and just a few moments later Luffy had his hands and arms tied while Nami held the end of the rope.

"Why'd you tie me up?" Luffy asked.

"It's just a rope. Any objections?" she asked innocently in return.

"Well no. I wouldn't mind meeting some pirates. Let's go," he replied completely oblivious of the possible danger he could get himself into.

"Hey, hold your horses," Nami told him as Luffy started walking before she did.

_**~X~**_

Vergil was sitting on the edge of the roof while Zoro stood not too far behind him. "How come you decided to use three swords?" Vergil suddenly asked.

Zoro remained silent for a brief period of time. "Two wasn't enough," he replied.

Vergil nodded, judging by the brief silence he guessed Zoro was reminded of some painful memory.

"How long have you known Luffy?" Zoro's question made Vergil chuckle at the memory.

"Roughly a year; never a dull moment with that kid," Vergil grinned, it was one of the best years he had, it was definitely the best year of the last decade.

Zoro sat down next to him and leaned back. "So, is he always that, gullible?"

At that word, it felt like something in Vergil's brain just clicked. "Shit."

Zoro raised an eyebrow at that and then remembered where Luffy was. "Come on, they couldn't have gotten far," he jumped down and Vergil was quick to follow. Given how gullible Luffy could be, add in Nami's knack for deception and it was a recipe for disaster.

"So, any idea where they went?" there was no doubt about the frustration Vergil was feeling due to the mistake they made. Nami still wasn't trustworthy, she was a thief that stole from pirates and they completely relaxed around her. They didn't exactly have an idea as to where Nami could have taken Luffy. That is until a cannonball obliterated a part of the town near them.

"Guess we found them," Vergil figured, his eyebrow twitching at the situation they seemed to be in.

"What kind of mess did they get into?" Zoro sighed feeling a similar kind of annoyance.

"Let's go over the roofs, it'll be quicker," Vergil suggested and grabbed onto the small ledge on the house next to them. Effortlessly he climbed onto the roof and Zoro followed.

As they jumped from one building to another they could hear people chanting 'fire' again and again.

"We need to hurry," Zoro narrowed his eyes, they were still too far away to actually do something. But then they saw Nami there, standing behind a cannon directed at a cage. "Damn it!" Zoro cursed.

Vergil pulled his fist hand back and began charging electricity. Another male approached Nami and it looked like he was about to light the fuse. Lightning intensified, he should have known she'd betray them and now… she'd pay along with those that dared point a cannon at his captain!

"Wait! Vergil!" Zoro's yell made him halt and then he realized Nami pulled out her staff and slammed it over the man's head.

Vergil stopped for a moment, the anger dissipated slightly, in the end, she wasn't bad. Which didn't change what she did previously, but it was better than nothing. "Well, our Nakama need saving," he looked at Zoro and motioned at the pirates charging at Nami.

Zoro nodded. "I got them," he smirked and drew two of his swords.

The pirates, so fixated on Nami and not expecting anyone else, failed to notice when Zoro jumped in and stopped the four blades. "Hey, hey. Ganging up on a girl like that isn't very nice," Zoro commented.

Vergil landed right next to the cannon. "Don't be so reckless," he said and grabbed the fuse with darkness clad hand before Nami could reach it.

"Vergil! Zoro!" Luffy greeted them happily as Nami looked from one pirate to another. Zoro now had one sword placed on his shoulder while he held the other one by his side, Vergil was casually looking at the pirate crew in front of them.

"Did you get hurt?" Zoro asked her as he turned his head slightly to look at her.

"Uh?" Nami mumbled unsure of what to say.

"Did they hurt you?" Zoro repeated the question.

"No, I'm fine," she replied.

"Man am I glad to see you! I didn't think you'd find us! Hurry up and free me!" Luffy exclaimed once again sounding rather happy.

"What on earth are you doing? You got tricked and ended up in the cage," Zoro scolded him.

Vergil glared as softly as devilishly possible at Nami. "Not exactly his fault. What were you thinking?" just because she didn't betray them it didn't mean she could do that without at least a scolding.

"I was just having fun," Luffy replied to Zoro as pirates around them tried to get over their shock.

Nami, on the other hand, returned Vergil's glare with an even more intense one. "It worked out, right?"

Vergil hardened his gaze. "It didn't have to," he reminded her of the pirates around them with a simple wave of his hand around them. "If you want the treasure you could just say so, we'll get it without this kind of risk," he didn't get it and he didn't really care, but his voice did soften just a little bit. She simply didn't trust them yet.

"How long were you watching?" she asked boldly. "If you were so concerned you should have jumped in before."

"Just enough to see you refused to light the fuse and knock that pirate out. Trust me, no matter what's the cost I'm not going to stand by and let my Nakama die," he assured her just as the pirates around them began chanting the name Buggy. Their captain, if Vergil's guess was right.

"Buggy! Buggy! Buggy!" they repeated again and again as Zoro put his sword into his mouth and prepared. Luffy looked intensely at the scene unfolding and Nami and Vergil turned their attention from one another to the upcoming battle. Still, it was strange, the clown pirate ran completely open for a counter-attack.

"Flashily die!" Buggy yelled as he jumped into the air, however, before he could actually attack Zoro cut him into three pieces, Buggy's body was cut in half and his right arm and leg were cut off as well.

Nami looked away and pirates' jaws slackened.

"He didn't even try to dodge," Zoro commented.

"Whoa! What a weakling!" Luffy exclaimed.

"No way," Nami muttered in disbelief.

"Something's wrong here," Vergil said and Nami looked at him. If she was about to say anything to him her attention was drawn away and to the crew that began laughing. Zoro looked at the laughing crew and then glanced at Luffy.

"What's with them?" Luffy wondered.

"Wh-What's going on? They are laughing even though their captain just got killed," Nami muttered.

"Hey! What's so funny?!" Zoro demanded and Vergil's eyes widened. He turned back to where Buggy's body laid to see the supposed dead man rather alive.

_'I don't have enough time!'_ Vergil cursed as he rushed and pushed Zoro out of the way completely surprising the swordsman.

"Hey, Vergil! What was th-" Zoro's voice got lost in shock as a knife went through Vergil's right forearm, he wasn't the only one to get surprised Nami and Luffy both looked shocked.

"Vergil!" Luffy yelled.

"What's with that hand?!" Nami shouted.

"What the hell is going on?!" Zoro demanded, his eyes widened as Buggy's arm floated in the air.

"Devil Fruit. We were careless," Vergil cursed as blood dripped down his forearm and onto the roof. He spent a year with someone who had that kind of power and yet he still forgot people could have that up their sleeves.

"It's **Bara Bara no Mi**. That's the Devil Fruit I ate, cutting me is useless I'm a splitting man! Gyahahaha," Buggy explained confidently.

"He put his body back together," Nami realized.

"Right into the trap huh?" Vergil said with a small grin, one that faded for a brief moment as Buggy pulled the knife out and attached the hand back to his body.

"Splitting man? Is he a monster?" Luffy asked unaware of the irony of that question.

Vergil sweatdropped. "Says a rubber man," the white-haired devil commented.

"I am impressed that you stopped me from cutting Zoro though. But still, that wound you got ain't joking matter," Buggy said with a wide grin and he was right, Vergil's forearm was bleeding a lot. "Zoro can't defeat me and you are almost done for, this battle is over!" Buggy bragged confidently as Zoro glared at him.

Vergil actually had to suppress a chuckle, this human didn't have any idea what he was talking about.

"Way to go captain! Buggy! Buggy! Buggy!" pirates cheered yet again.

Before Vergil, or anyone else could say anything Luffy, angered by Buggy's action decided to voice his opinion. "Attacking from behind is cowardly you big nose!" the rubber captain yelled.

"Who're you calling… big nose?!" Buggy demanded angrily.

'_Well, that obviously hit the nerve,'_ Vergil smirked but his smirk vanished immediately as Buggy threw his hand back and then launched it at Luffy.

"Luffy!" Zoro exclaimed but Luffy had caught the knife Buggy's hand was holding with his teeth.

"Buggy! I'm gonna kick your ass!" Luffy announced causing Buggy and his pirates to start laughing.

"You kick my ass? In your dreams. I'm gonna kill all four of you!" Buggy announced.

"You are noisy. Since a swordsman can't hurt you I suppose I'll be your opponent for now," Vergil decided.

Quicker than Buggy could follow Vergil dashed forward and stopped right in front of the clown pirate. "This is for attacking from behind," the white-haired devil said as he threw a punch directly at Buggy's face, the surprise combined with the speed of the punch sent Buggy flying back to his crew.

"Kill me, my ass! Run, Zoro, Vergil!" Luffy yelled.

"What?" Zoro questioned in surprise.

"They came here to save you and now you're telling them to run away? What about you?" Nami asked in disbelief.

Luffy kept smiling and two pirates caught on. Zoro smirked and Vergil grinned.

"Roger that," they both agreed.

"Zoro, I'll buy time," Vergil said and the swordsman nodded.

Buggy recovered from Vergil's punch and attacked the wounded devil, he was aiming to slice him, but Vergil was fast enough to lean back and dodge the knives.

Zoro ran up to the cannon and crouched underneath it. He began pushing it up as Vergil did his best to evade the slices and stabs that Buggy attempted. He ducked under a knife, jumped to the side, and swept his leg aiming at Buggy's knees. The splitting man separated his body much to Vergil's annoyance.

The devil gritted his teeth and dropped to one knee, he placed his right hand on the roof. No one could see it, but he sent electricity through the roof, precisely through the area underneath Buggy. He unsheathed his machete and threw it at the roof right in front of Buggy.

"Hahahahaha! You're getting desperate!" Buggy laughed.

"What is that idiot doing?" Nami groaned, and then it happened, the roof underneath Buggy fell apart and Vergil dashed forward.

Buggy's jaw dropped as he realized he lost his footing. "You're not going anywhere," Vergil smirked, sent an uppercut straight into Buggy's chin, and lifted him up into the sky.

Vergil jumped after Buggy, kicked him into the stomach, and sent him flying to the ground. His eyes widened as Buggy coughed up blood. "He couldn't dodge it," he realized as he landed on the roof, jumped down. and grabbed his machete. Quickly he jumped back to the roof and concentrated back on Buggy.

"Captain!" the clown pirates cried out as Buggy stood up.

"You flashy bastard! **Bara Bara Cannon**!" the hand detached from Buggy's body and surprisingly went at Zoro.

"Coward!" Vergil roared angrily, formed a ball of lightning, and threw it at the hand. Buggy's eyes widened as the electricity shocked him.

"W-Why you…!" Buggy dropped to one knee, feeling the effects of lightning shock. "What did you do?" he demanded between trying to catch his breath.

"What just happened?" Nami wondered as Zoro finally pushed the cannon up and to the other side, thus pointing it at the Clown pirates. They missed a sound of crackling after cannon was flipped over.

"Nice, Zoro," Vergil smirked and jumped back, landing on top of the cannon, just at the end currently pointing at the pirates. A small spark, just about strong enough to relight the fuse emerged.

"Are you crazy?! The cannon is pointing at us now!" Buggy exclaimed as he and his pirates looked at the cannon in fear. "He lit it! Wait! That's dangerous! Stop! Stop!" Buggy yelled as Nami covered her ears, the cannon was about to fire.

And then, as Vergil prepared to jump off it, the cannon tipped slightly forward. "Huh?" the devil realized what happened and his eyes widened.

Zoro understood just as well, he pushed too hard and Vergil jumped off too harshly. The damn cannon broke.

"You dumbass!" Nami shrieked as the cannon fired, not at the clown pirates, but at the roof about half-way between the four of them and the opposing crew.

Good news, the explosion managed to create enough smoke to cover escape, bonus points for actually slowing down Buggy and his crew, since the building was collapsing. Bad news, because of the building collapsing escape itself was arguably harder to pull off. Or at the very least more annoying to pull off.

"Well, we just poured gasoline on the fire," Vergil commented as he wrapped his arm around Nami's waist before the girl could make any protest whatsoever.

"Looks like it," Luffy agreed without as much as a care in the world as his cage began sliding down; luckily Zoro and Vergil managed to catch it.

"On three," Zoro grunted at the weight of the cage pulling them down as well.

"One, two," the swordsman and the first mate counted. "Three!"

"Wait! What are you-" Nami yelped as the two males pushed forward, pulling both the cage and Luffy in it as well as Nami along for a ride.

Surprisingly they managed to get down to the street safely, a bit deaf due to the orange-haired girl's scream but safe nonetheless. With some strain Zoro had managed to lift the cage Luffy was in.

"Need help?" Vergil asked as he looked at Zoro.

"You are injured; I'm doing this on my own," Zoro said, his voice was a bit strained but he could manage.

"You, are crazy…!" Nami breathed out as she glared at Vergil. The devil just grinned sheepishly thus infuriating her even further. "This is insane. What are you guys?" she said more to herself as she looked at the three pirates in front of her.

"Can you pick a lock?" Vergil asked and she nodded.

"I'm a thief; of course I can pick a lock," Nami replied making the white-haired devil sweatdrop.

"That's not something you should say so proudly," he muttered.

"Like devils are the ones to talk, all you ever do is kill," she said and Vergil looked at her for a couple of moments before sighing. It was clear that her patience was getting thinner when it came to him being a devil. She was really showing how irritating the fact was to her.

"Can you come with us and get Luffy out of this cage? I don't think there's a quick way to find a key in that rubble," the white-haired devil asked somewhat cautiously.

Nami pondered on it for a moment. "It's my fault that he is the cage anyway," she reasoned and followed them.

_**~X~**_

This was downright ridiculous. These three were anything but normal, that much Nami could safely say. Zoro, the same guy that met Luffy a few days ago, was dragging the cage Luffy was in down the street instead of running away as any sane person would do.

And Vergil… she didn't have any idea how long he knew Luffy, but a devil being this loyal was beyond anything she could reasonably imagine. Yet it was right in front of her eyes.

The sound of people approaching alerted her. "We have to hurry up! I heard pirates!" she warned the trio.

Vergil gritted his teeth as he looked around for shelter when he found none he let out a sigh and grabbed onto the cage with his left hand. "We are going up," he sounded so sure he could pull it off. Like he could lift a cage that required four people to carry, she saw it with her own eyes and those four pirates that carried the cage weren't weak-looking by any means.

"And how do you plan on taking that cage all the way up there?!" Nami yelled at him, he was being unreasonable and she wasn't about to let him put them at risk.

Vergil rolled his eyes and snorted at that. "Whatever way I can," great, he was overconfident.

Or maybe not…

Nami's jaw dropped when a burst of lightning coming from his feet propelled him and the cage with Luffy in it up. He reached the rake and pulled himself up.

Her and Zoro quickly followed him onto the roof.

"That was too close," Zoro breathed out. Sure, he could take the pirates down, but they needed to avoid conflict right now, at least until they recovered and Luffy was set free from the cage.

"Damn wound," Vergil commented as he lied on the rooftop.

Nami looked at his forearm, the wound got worse due to the strain. Well, he was still made out of flesh and blood. "We need to get out of their sight, if we stay on the roof Buggy will probably see us," she said as she surveyed the surrounding area.

"Is that guy still alive?" Luffy asked, finally speaking after some time.

"He is, but his hand is probably starting to hurt him by now," Vergil replied with a smirk on his face.

"What exactly did you do to him?" Nami asked, mostly sure she was correct in the assumption that he merely electrocuted the pirate but she'd rather have the devil confirm it.

"I used lightning to shock him. I took a chance to induce a small paralyze on his body," the white-haired devil replied.

"How? Couldn't you kill him with that?" Nami asked she figured out what was it that Vergil did, but she wanted to know how he did it.

"Well electricity isn't what kills you, it's the energy produced by voltage, electrical current and time. Generally speaking, there is a couple of main factors deciding the effect of lightning or electricity-based attacks. First of all, voltage, the volt is the unit of electrical potential and it is required to send a current. Ampere is the unit of current, one ampere is the current which one volt can send, common people can be killed by current equal or higher than 0.1 amperes. Finally, there's resistance, one ohm is the resistance offered to the passage of one ampere when impelled by one volt. Resistance varies based on the individual and the state of the body, a wet body has lesser resistance than a dry body. 0.02 ampere is enough to cause a slight shock and paralyze the victim, that's the current I used coupled with a single second and 2500 volt I hit Buggy with energy equal to 50 joules which could kill a common person, but since he isn't that weak it was merely enough to shock him for a couple of moments," Vergil explained as quickly and as well as he could.

Nami nodded, understanding perfectly well what he said, Luffy and Zoro, on the other hand, looked blissfully ignorant.

"You didn't understand a single thing I said, did you?" Vergil actually chuckled.

"I see, thanks for clearing things out for us, well me," she said making the white-haired devil smile.

"Glad to see that all the talk wasn't wasted," he replied, at least he wasn't pissed off because of what she did to Luffy anymore.

"But why didn't you kill him? You are a devil after all," she asked curiously. It wasn't devil-like, leaving enemies alive.

Vergil grinned at that. "Luffy said he'd kick Buggy's ass. I can't stand in the way of my captain's decisions."

Nami resisted the urge to facepalm. Of all the reasons he could have he just had to follow Luffy's little whim.

"Shishishishi. Thanks, Vergil," and Luffy thanked him, he actually encouraged him to keep doing that.

Zoro smirked. "Let's go and find a better place. You up for a walk Vergil?" Zoro asked and Vergil nodded as he stood up.

"Let's get down, then you can pick this lock, right?" Vergil asked.

"Sure, I can do that," Nami said as they went down back to the street.

Between Zoro and Vergil it looked way too easy to just carry the cage around. Now all they needed was a nice secure place.

Nami's eye twitched as she realized where the two left their captain. "How is the middle of the street a safe place?!" she demanded.

Vergil just sat down and leaned against a fence of a pet food store. "It'll be fine, we can take them on," he stated. Clearly, he didn't notice a small dog right next to him.

"Shishishi!" Luffy, for whatever reason, laughed.

"What's so funny?" Zoro asked curiously, honestly, there was nothing funny about this.

Luffy pointed next to Vergil causing the white-haired male to look everywhere but down.

Zoro shook his head slightly at that. "Look down, next to you."

And finally, Vergil actually looked down and saw the dog. He blinked a few times and, much to Nami and Zoro's surprise, reached out to pet it. "A dog, huh?" he whispered softly. The dog leaned in and nuzzled against Vergil's palm. "Oh, now you've done it," he gently picked the dog up and put him on his lap. "Good boy," he praised the little dog as it sat there and just enjoyed being petted.

Nami shook her head. "No. I am seeing things. This can't be happening," she rubbed her eyes but the sight remained the same. Vergil, an actual devil, was playing with a dog, hell now he was even letting it nibble on his finger. She sweatdropped when Vergil fell to the side, he was sprawled on the ground and didn't seem to mind one bit.

Vergil raised his hands up. "I surrender, you've got me," he dropped his hands back down to the ground and just looked at the dog sitting on his chest. The smile never left his face.

"Hey, Vergil, it's just a dog," Zoro crouched down and went to pull the dog off of Vergil.

Vergil though raised his left hand and petted the dog's head. "The most loyal, unconditionally supportive friend you can have," he responded.

Zoro halted for a moment and for some reason looked at Luffy and then back at Vergil. "I see."

Right about that time, Nami managed to unlock the cage and Luffy was once again free.

"Thanks!" he gave her his signature wide grin.

Nami nodded, though she had to restrain the smile that fought its way to her face. "Don't mention it."

"Youngsters, what are you doing here?" a new voice made them all turn to see an older man in make-shift armor over his chest stand there. From Nami's experience, she guessed this was the mayor.

"Who are you, old man?" Zoro asked, the man didn't look like an enemy but it was better to be sure.

The man looked up, apparently not paying much attention to the group in front of him. "I am the mayor of this town, Boodle! Who are you?" he finally looked at them and noticed Vergil's wound. "Oh, my. That's quite an injury. You need to be treated," he realized.

Vergil looked at his forearm and shrugged. "Nah, it's just a scratch," he brushed it off and waved his arm around to prove his point.

"The knife went through your arm, you really should take care of it," Nami reprimanded him.

"Aw, you do care," he was smirking, that very same infuriatingly teasing smirk of his…

"In your dreams," she snorted, regretting immediately the moment of weakness she just displayed in front of him.

"You dream about Nami?" Luffy you, gullible, unaware assistant… If she continued journeying with them she would most certainly get the boy some meat for this.

Zoro smirked. "Already dreaming, huh? Where's the rush Vergil?" he jokingly elbowed his Nakama.

Vergil laughed it off. "I yield, you win this one," maybe he just didn't feel like continuing their little back and forth, and quite frankly this wasn't time or place to do that.

"Glad you got that," she offered him a mischievous smirk and then turned to Boodle. "Why is Chouchou here, anyway? Ever since we came here the town was empty. I mean aside from Buggy and his crew."

"He's guarding the store. You see, the store owner was a good friend of mine and Chouchou's master. I usually come here to feed Chouchou in his stead," in the meantime he placed food in front of the small dog. He looked at the shop and then at Chouchou, saddened by the situation the dog was currently in.

"In his stead?" Nami repeated, her curiosity piqued by the brief story.

"Yes, he died from an illness three months ago," the mayor revealed.

"So the dog is waiting for his master to return?" Nami questioned as Luffy, Zoro and Vergil listened to Boodle.

"That's what everyone thinks," Boodle told her as he sat down in front of the store.

"Eh?"

"I disagree though. Chouchou is a smart dog, I'm sure he is aware that his master is dead," Boodle said as he looked at Chouchou eating his food.

"So why is he still guarding the store?" Nami asked yet another question.

"Because to Chouchou, this store is a treasure, I think it reminds him of his loving master. I tried taking him away but he won't budge," Boodle explained. Chouchou was done eating by now.

Before the conversation could go any further they heard a roar of a large beast.

"What was that?!" Nami quickly got back to her feet. She wasn't sure what made that sound and quite frankly she didn't want to know.

"It's Beast Tamer Mohji! We need to leave!" Boodle recognized the potential danger.

"Buggy probably sent him," Zoro commented, neither he nor the Luffy and Vergil seemed worried.

Vergil stood up and stretched a bit. "Let's go then," he was already on his way away from the store.

Luffy tilted his head a bit to the side. "Why should we leave? We can beat them."

Vergil nodded. "We can, but we shouldn't put Chouchou and the store in danger. You can't predict how destructive a fight could get," he explained, though he was frowning. He was second-guessing his own reasoning despite the logic in it.

Luffy however, completely trusted his first mate. "I see. Let's go then."

_**~X~**_

For some reason, Vergil couldn't shake off the bad feeling. Like he was making a mistake. His gut was telling him to go back, but he was wrong before. He made mistakes before, why would this time be different?

'Verge, I'm proud of you.'

He clenched his fists. That wasn't who he was, he couldn't be, not anymore. He lost Perun, even his eyes changed… Cambion red to devil yellow.

The decision was made before he could keep wrestling with his guts on the inside. Luffy halted. "Let's go back," he turned around, and almost as if it set something off inside Vergil the devil began running back.

He didn't care Nami yelled for him to slow down, he didn't care no one could catch up to him now that he was actually using lightning to enhance his speed. "Please, let me be wrong," he wanted to be wrong, but just to be sure hurried up.

The sound of barking shattered any illusions he was trying to hold on to. He was right.

Chouchou was barking at a large lion, already injured in his attempt to guard the store. Vergil saw red as the lion raised its paw. A single claw on that paw was likely bigger than Chouchou. In a burst of electricity, he zapped from his current location right in front of Chouchou and crouched down to shield the dog.

Adrenaline pumped through his body so quickly he didn't even notice the pain of the impact. Growling he got up and grabbed the paw.

"You must be one of the thieves," Mohji reasoned as Vergil glared at him. "Let go of Richie!" the beast tamer ordered, the lion roared and tried to pull its paw back.

"What?!" Mohji exclaimed and quickly jumped off the lion. "Richie get him! Bite him in half!"

And the lion did try to do that, it really did, but it was lifted into the air and thrown down the street.

"Richie!" Mohji cried out, shocked that someone could actually throw his lion like that.

Vergil stood up and began walking towards the fallen lion. It was slowly getting back up and shaking its head a bit. "Good, there's more to pay," he sounded strangely calm as electricity crackled around him wildly.

The lion backed away a bit. Afraid of the killed intent behind Vergil's eyes.

"Too late," Vergil grabbed the lion's mane with his left hand and pulled the head closer to his. "**Upper Flash**," he landed an uppercut right in the lion's chin and lightning burst forth with such intensity it spilled Lin's blood. It was flung in the air and Vergil followed after it, electricity engulfed his fists and he began punching it rapidly in the guts. While still in air he used the lion to jump higher and push it into the ground at the same time. "**Grounding**," lightning engulfed his body and concentrated around his knee. With that same electrified knee, he slammed into the lion's neck.

Lightning exploded crushing the ground underneath the lion. There was no doubt about it, it was dead on the spot. The final blow was there just to put it out of its misery faster.

"S-Stop right there!" Mohji screamed and reached out to grab Chouchou.

Vergil's eyes narrowed and his hand twitched. Still, before he could actually do something an arm stretched right past him, grabbed Mohji's neck, and pulled him towards Luffy. Wordlessly, Luffy knocked Mohji out cold.

"You didn't need to interfere," Vergil, still feeling the wrath of lightning, his very nature was fueling his power. This was lightning at its strongest, the lightning of destruction.

"You would have killed him," Luffy reasoned and Vergil's yellow eyes clashed with his black ones.

Vergil knew it, he knew Luffy didn't like it when he killed. Slowly, with each deep breath, his rage decreased. He scoffed, the look on his face must have been an awful sight, the narrowed pupils and eyes damn near glistening with power within him. The narrowed eyes of a killer so different from the innocent eyes of his captain. He allowed a weak, mirthless smile. _'You just have to keep restraining me, don't you?'_ and he wasn't sure how to feel about that.

He briefly looked at Nami and Zoro. Zoro didn't seem bothered by what he saw. He was capable of taking a life so there was that. But Nami… Whatever sort of trust he was building with her it was gone in the wind. The uncomfortable look on her face was enough of a proof. Despite his reasons he still brutalized that lion.

Chouchou nuzzled against his leg and he looked down, he blinked a few times, wide-eyes at the sight of the dog. It appreciated what he just did. "Woof! Woof! Woof!" Chouchou barked a couple of times making the devil's eyes soften and the captain grin.

"Sure, you keep up the good work too," Luffy agreed and motivated the dog in his way.

"Take good care of the store," Vergil added and Chouchou barked a couple of times before leaving to the inside of the store. It would take some reparations, but the story would be back to its former glory in no time. As long as Buggy and his crew left the island.

Nami smiled while Zoro had a satisfied look on his face.

As Chouchou left Boodle finally showed his true frustration.

"I'm powerless! Chouchou and you boys fought so hard, yet I, the town's mayor have done nothing to save this town!" Boodle breathed out in frustration. So much was destroyed over the time Buggy and his crew spent in their town, yet he didn't do a thing. He was supposed to protect his home, but he fled. All the frustration, all the anger, it all bottled up and now that Buggy nearly destroyed Chouchou's treasure it was as if he had crossed one last line.

"Mayor please calm down," Nami said as she and Luffy ran up to the mayor.

"Forty years ago there was nothing here. We all worked hard together to clear the land… Harvested crops opened the stores and built a community. This town and its people are my treasure. I won't let these fiends violate this town any further," Boodle announced fiercely.

"Listen, old man, I don't really care about all this and I don't particularly like or care about you. But if you want to fight alone then give it up," Vergil said coldly as he stood up.

"What are you saying, youngster?! If I don't fight who will?!" Boodle yelled, his hope barely hanging by the thread, but he knew he had to keep going.

"Please calm down. It's reckless!" Nami tried to calm him down.

"I know it's reckless! But I have to fight and I can't endanger other people!" Boodle told her.

"Luffy?" Vergil questioned as he saw the determinate look on Luffy's face.

"Yeah, I'm kicking Buggy's ass," Luffy announced surprising Boodle.

"I won't let you boy! You'll die!" Boodle yelled at him.

"And you are too weak to protect this place alone," Vergil stated and walked up to the mayor. "Leave it to us," the white-haired devil said as he knocked Boodle unconscious.

"What did you do that for?!" Nami snapped at Vergil.

"He'd be in the way," Luffy and Zoro explained simply.

_**~X~**_

That burst of lightning must have meant one thing, Mohji was defeated. Of course, he wouldn't be a match for a devil. Buggy was about to lose what little cool he had left. Still, there was one more trick he had. Which was why he was currently standing in the basement of the tavern.

"It's time to wake up," he began nicely, hoping a bit of kindness, as forced as it was, would be enough to get the man up on his feet.

"I don't wanna," as childish as always… Buggy wanted to scream at the skies, and he did. The lazy little devil, what use was someone that could replace his entire crew if he wasn't even willing to wake up when needed.

"Payac! Flashily get up now!" he yelled his heart out but the only response was more snoring.

* * *

_**And with that Orange town arc is halfway done. I'm fairly satisfied with the way things are going so far. **_

* * *

_**Answers on reviews:**_

_**SubZPhantomX – Well, I'd lie if I said it didn't feel good to be back. They will mention how they met, eventually. I'm still not sure when that will be, but it'll happen when I feel it's right. Luffy is stronger, but it likely won't show until a bit further down the line, after all, he pretty much beat his first few opponents with ease in cannon as well.**_

_**Guest – Thank you.**_

_**muhamed3871 – Thank you, I'll keep that in mind.**_

_**scarlet rose white – Glad to hear, well, these first few arcs aren't that different. Though I am taking a slightly different approach to devil powers as in the way they manifest. Other than that the changes are fairly minor for the first two arcs.**_


	4. Splitting the clowns

_**Chapter 4 – Splitting the clowns**_

* * *

Buggy and his pirates relocated to the rooftop of a building near the pub they were occupying up until mere hours ago.

"Captain Buggy, the cannon is fixed and loaded!" one of the pirates exclaimed.

"Alright! Fire!" Buggy ordered, however, that was the order that would wait a bit before being executed.

"Buggy! I'm here to kick your ass. Just as I promised!" Luffy shouted as he, Vergil, Zoro, and Nami stood in front of the building.

"Straw Hat!" Buggy hissed as he and his crew looked at the four pirates. "You bastard. You actually have guts to return here! To face this Captain Buggy!" Buggy yelled out.

"Act high and mighty all you want, you are returning back to the circus you escaped from," Vergil taunted, now that Mohji was out of the picture he was far calmer. Additionally, he didn't really have anything too personal against Buggy. Well, aside from endangering his Nakama. And attacking from behind. But that wasn't enough to invoke his wrath.

"I flashily did not escape from the circus!" Buggy yelled.

"So you were born a clown, man I pity you now," the devil brushed it off enraging Buggy even further.

"Listen, all I want is the map and treasure. Got that?" Nami asked the three males.

"Yeah, I know," Zoro replied.

"Be careful," Vergil added, she could take care of herself, especially once the pirates focused on the three of them.

"Here I go," Luffy said as he took a deep breath and walked a bit forward. "BIG NOSE!" he yelled as loudly as he could, thus making the jaws of the Buggy Pirates drop.

Nami held the sides of her head in utter fear while Zoro and Vergil smirked.

"That's something you definitively can't say!" Nami exclaimed, obviously afraid but also angry at Luffy's reckless shout.

"Why not? He's going to fight Buggy either way," Vergil pointed out to her. Honestly, he could not see the reason for her panicking. "Nice one Luffy," he complimented.

"Damn it, Vergil! Don't encourage him!" she shrieked at the first mate.

"You are pissing me off asshole. You dare call me that?" Buggy hissed and finally snapped. "Fire the Buggy Bomb right now!"

"See that?! Why did you say that, you fool?!" Nami yelled as she ran to the side hoping to get away from the cannon blast.

"Hey, Luffy! Run!" Zoro yelled at the captain.

"It's nothing," Luffy assured them.

"It'll be fine, don't worry about it," Vergil added when he realized the other two weren't convinced yet.

"Fire!" Buggy ordered.

"That won't work on me! **Gomu Gomu no**," Luffy exclaimed as he sucked in a lot of air and became a balloon. "**Balloon**!" as its name had suggested the technique made Luffy's body larger and filled with air so the cannonball hit Luffy's large stomach. Nami, Buggy, and his pirates looked utterly shocked and even Zoro couldn't remain neutral.

"Don't tell me Buggy Bomb-" Buggy realized a bit too late as the bomb went back. The déjà vu had just occurred, twice in a day Buggy was targeted by his own bomb.

"Tell us beforehand," Zoro said as he facepalmed.

The bomb hit the building and caused massive damage to it.

"Alright! it hit the enemy," Luffy cheered just a bit as he held onto his straw hat. The bomb going off would have taken it off if he didn't hold it.

"What the hell was that?!" Nami snapped at him as Zoro walked up behind Luffy and Vergil.

"Don't surprise people like that," Zoro scolded him.

"You were surprised?" Vergil asked as he and Luffy calmly observed the damage, many of the pirates were unconscious, some may even be dead as the building was no more than a bunch of rubble right now.

"Ever since I saw you I knew your captain couldn't be normal!" Nami yelled at Vergil, honestly, she should have expected something crazy, after all, how many times did she see a devil following someone's lead. Devil Fruit be damned, this wasn't normal. She then turned to Luffy without giving Vergil the opportunity to answer. "That's not something a human can do. Even with a Devil Fruit. Please explain it to me clearly. That balloon thing you just did, what was it?" she asked, or more precisely demanded an answer.

Luffy smiled. "That's **Gomu Gomu no Balloon**," Luffy stated the obvious and pretty much the only answer.

"I'm not asking that. I'm asking what was it!" she yelled feeling more and more frustrated.

"Actually, that's exactly what that was, a rubber balloon," Vergil replied and Nami punched him on the side of his head.

"Stay out of this unless you've got something smart to say," she snapped reaching the end of her ropes.

_'I'm going to get you back for that Nami_,' Vergil decided as a smirk appeared on his face, he just thought of a way to pay Nami back without hurting her in any kind of way.

"How dare you do that to me?" Buggy demanded angrily as he held two of his subordinates in the air; he had used them as a shield from the explosion.

"Using his subordinates as a shield eh?" Nami asked as she folded her arms across her chest disapprovingly.

"Geez, talk about low," Vergil commented.

"For once we agree," Nami nodded.

"I see, so that's why Buggy Bombs bounced off of you. You ate a Devil Fruit," Buggy realized and glared at Luffy.

"Yep," Luffy pulled at the side of his cheek and it stretched. "I'm a rubber man."

At that point another pirate emerged from the rubble, this time it was the second mate Cabaji who was also holding a pirate as a living shield. "This is our greatest humiliation, captain," Cabaji stated.

"Oh, Cabaji. I cannot suppress my anger any longer," Buggy said as Cabaji walked up behind his captain.

"Captain Buggy, please let me handle this," Cabaji suggested making Buggy smirk as the Straw Hats looked at their new opponent.

"Alright! Show them your acrobatics!" Buggy encouraged him.

Cabaji jumped up and landed on the ground, however, he was riding a unicycle.

"I am the second mate of the Buggy Pirates, Cabaji the acrobat. Captain Buggy's anger has been transferred to me!" Cabaji exclaimed as he attempted to stab Luffy.

His attack was effortlessly stopped by Zoro who was now standing in front of a bit surprised Luffy. "Since you use sword I'll be your opponent," Zoro stated, smirking a bit at the thought of finally fighting in a proper fight.

"That seems fair, Roronoa Zoro. To fight you as a swordsman," Cabaji said calmly and overconfidently.

"Don't get in my way," Zoro said to Luffy and Vergil.

"**Acrobatic Special, Old Man's Flame**!" Cabaji exclaimed as he breathed fire at surprised Zoro, the swordsman covered his face and shielded it from the flames, but he was defenseless against a kick. The kick was aimed directly at Zoro's waist; although, if someone like Cabaji could affect Zoro with a kick he wouldn't have as much of a reputation.

"I won't get defeated by a weakling like you," Zoro said as he clenched his swords and got into his signature stance. "**Oni Giri**!" Zoro exclaimed as he cut Cabaji who fell down from his unicycle.

"Cabaji! How dare you low life thieves trample over my crew!" Buggy yelled angrily, again and again, these four thieves kept humiliating him.

"We are not thieves, we are pirates," Zoro stated surprising Buggy.

"Pirates? You guys are pirates?" Buggy just had asked.

"Yeah, we are going to the Grand Line," Luffy replied.

"Tch, that's not a place you can just casually go to," Buggy stated.

Nami's eyes widened slightly all of a sudden. "I don't care. Do whatever you guys want. You pirates can just kill each other. Whether you lose or win it has nothing to do with me," Nami stated as she began walking away.

"Eh?" Luffy mumbled.

Vergil studied her for a moment and was about to speak.

"I'll go find the treasure, so keep them distracted," Nami whispered and met his eyes. Of course, she couldn't completely trust Luffy to keep his mouth shut, but Vergil was a different story. "See ya. Good luck fighting!" she wished them good luck and ran off.

"Thank you!" Luffy thanked her as he waved at her.

_**~X~**_

A few minutes later Nami was surrounded by treasure and holding a map of the Grand Line. She succeeded and she couldn't keep the grin off her face; after all the treasure alone was worth a few million. Still, she didn't understand why there was no floor. Instead, the entire basement was simple ground.

Suddenly, she felt a chill run down her spine, almost as if the ground was shaking slightly underneath her feet. Almost as if someone was behind her.

"Can you just put that back? I don't feel like getting up," it was a voice, a chillingly uncaring voice. "Don't try to trick me; hitting that human wasn't very nice."

Human, that man said human. "You're a devil?" she swallowed the lump that formed in her throat and carefully turned around.

"Nice observation skills. Come on, put everything back and leave. I won't give you quick death if you don't," that was as obvious of a threat as it could get. "Ah… Mr. Lightning," Nami's heart skipped the beat at that, was it Vergil, or was there another devil in Buggy's crew?

"Your captain can't keep his mouth shut, otherwise I would have been late."

It was Vergil and Nami couldn't believe she would ever feel relief at seeing the devil but here she was feeling as if she was the luckiest person in the town.

The other devil grunted and stood up. "Can't you just leave empty-handed?"

Vergil casually walked past the other devil and stood between them. "Why? You can't stop us, do us all a favor and get back to sleep."

"I'm Payac, a devil that serves captain Buggy. I can't do that," Payac was lanky, to say the least. He was towering over Vergil at, what Nami estimated, around two and a half meters. He also looked like he had a black eye around both his eyes permanently. Yet, despite that, the yellow eyes were just as prominent as Nami was used to.

On the other hand, Vergil's were just a bit darker. She couldn't say it was normal after all this was only third devil she came face to face with, Speaking of Vergil, it looked like he recognized the devil in front of him.

"Payac the Deceiver? Well then," he drew out his machete and charged electricity through it. "Shall we start?"

All Nami could do was gasp when Vergil raised his hand and blasted the side of the wall with lightning. And behind the wall, she could see some stone figure crumbling.

"Nice and subtle doesn't work with you, huh? Leonidas someone?" Payac's demeanor changed completely, he was no longer dragging his every move and his eyes were no longer unfocused. The murderous intent made Nami shiver.

"Take the treasure and run. We might not be able to get it back after the battle," Vergil's warning made her swallow hard.

Payac threw a rock straight at Vergil. "Not even Buggy knows my true nature, I'll just have to silence you," as Vergil destroyed the rock Payac moved faster than Nami could blink. He appeared behind Vergil and raised his palm over Vergil's head.

Vergil jerked to the side just in time to evade a stone pillar coming from the ground. It connected with Payac's palm and then spikes came out in the direction Vergil dodged in. Lightning appeared around Vergil allowing him to zap to the other side of the room.

He wasn't quick enough though; even if it was barely on the surface Payac still made a cut on his left cheek. There was only a thin red line with barely a bit of blood, but it didn't change the fact Payac's attack was faster than Vergil's dodge.

Nami took a step back, leaning against the wall. Her eyes were wide and she wasn't sure how to get out, but she needed to get out no matter what. She couldn't die here. Not realizing she still had the map in her hand she began running towards Vergil. If she got behind him she'd be able to dash for the exit and leave. '_I can't free everyone if I die here.'_

"The map, girl!" Payac's voice boomed through the basement and she felt the ground shake so much it forced her to her knees. She closed her eyes, expecting pain, yet it never came. A sound of thunder right behind her followed by larger devil crashing into the wall was the most welcomed sound she could possibly hear right now. She didn't even mind when Vergil pulled her up to her feet.

"You know where Luffy and Zoro are, run over there. Zoro probably isn't fighting, so just stay by his side, forget the treasure, I'll rob as many pirate ships as you want me to. Just run," he looked her in the eyes, he didn't look worried, but he wasn't completely indifferent either.

She nodded and took a deep breath. "Thanks," she needed to run, now. But before that… "Vergil, you can win, right?"

He chuckled for a second or two. "Sure."

With that being said she ran without looking back. Luckily the basement wasn't too far away from where the other two pirates were and this time she didn't even think about sneaking around. The moment she turned around the corner she saw Zoro leaning against the building and saw Luffy was about to start his fight with Buggy. Tucking the map, she just realized she was still holding, underneath her shirt she ran closer to Zoro.

"Nami? Where's Vergil?" Zoro noticed her.

"Fighting a devil. He said he can win," she took a few deep breaths and sat down next to the swordsman. Despite Zoro being a pirate she felt safe, especially since the alternative was being on her own against Buggy and that monster. She shuddered at the thought of coming here on her own.

"Are you alright?" Zoro seemed a bit worried.

Slowly she nodded. "Just a bit shook up. I haven't seen a devil in a long time," she explained, not really sure why she was being so honest.

"Vergil's a devil," Zoro pointed out and she remained silent, not sure how to respond to that. Yes, a devil, a devil that genuinely seemed to care about his crew.

"**Bara Bara Rice Cracker**!" Buggy exclaimed as his lower half dethatched from his body and spun like a cartwheel, he aimed at Luffy who jumped up to avoid it. "If you are in the air I can predict your movement!" Buggy exclaimed as he shot his knives at Luffy.

"Who said?" Luffy sort of taunted as he stretched his arm, grabbed onto the wooden pole, and pulled his body towards it thus evading the knives.

"Oh I see, interesting," Buggy commented. Perhaps the brat wasn't all talk, but he still had no right to arrogantly try taking Roger's throne.

"You too," Luffy said with a small smile on his face. "**Gomu Gomu no Pistol**!" Luffy exclaimed as he aimed his punch at Buggy's face, however, Buggy moved out of the way.

"That's an interesting skill, but it left you wide open!" Buggy yelled as he raised a knife. "I'll chop it off!" Buggy attempted to cut Luffy's arm off, but Luffy grabbed onto the tree and flung toward Buggy.

"**Gomu Gomu no**," Luffy exclaimed.

"**Bara Bara Emergency Escape**!" Buggy's head detached from his body.

"**Sickle**!" Luffy finished as he attempted to hit Buggy's head, but due to it being split from the body Luffy just flew by, went past the tree, and crashed into the rubble.

Buggy laughed as his head flew around before reattaching to the rest of his body. "Too naïve, rubber man."

Luffy emerged from the rubble holding his straw hat in his left hand. He returned the straw hat back onto his head. "Damn, he splits," Luffy complained as Buggy gave a short bark of laughter. Suddenly an idea popped into his head, thinking back Vergil landed a hit while Buggy was in the air. Maybe, just maybe, the splitting man had to keep his feet on the ground.

"What kind of battle is this? It's like watching a dream," Nami wondered as she watched the two Devil Fruit users battle. It was still better than watching a fight between devils, though. That much she was sure of.

Zoro watched intently as the battle unfolded, finally he could see how Luffy fared in a serious fight. And the captain didn't disappoint, similar to what Vergil did a few hours earlier he chose a less environment-friendly approach. "**Gomu Gomu no Stamp**!" he slammed his foot onto the street right where Buggy was standing.

"I'll cut it off!" Buggy raised his foot and a knife appeared on the bottom of his shoe. With Luffy's foot slightly stuck he believed he had a clean shot at cutting the rubber man's foot off. He clearly didn't count on Luffy's rubber body; and since the foot could come back to its body, the body went to the foot instead.

Buggy's jaw dropped as Luffy nearly rammed into him, only this time he had to get out of the way by actually jumping.

"**Gomu Gomu no Pistol**!" finally, rubber man landed the punch. Buggy skidded across the ground as blood dripped down from the corner of his lips.

Now the clown was even more motivated to beat the rubber brat. "Damn rubber bastard, die flashily! **Bara Bara Cannon Dismemberer**!" Buggy shot his armed hand toward Luffy who managed to stop it by catching the forearm. "**Release**!" however the hand dethatched from the forearm and while Luffy managed to dodge it, it still cut him and more importantly… "Gyahahahaha! How do you like that, kid?" Buggy taunted as Luffy looked at the straw hat that was now damaged; one of the knives had cut it…

"You bastard!" Luffy yelled angrily.

"What's wrong? Was it wrong of me to cut your face?" Buggy taunted.

"How dare you. You dare damage this hat!" Luffy yelled confusing Buggy.

"Eh?" Buggy was obviously confused. It was just a common straw hat, right?

"I won't forgive anyone who damages this hat! This hat is my treasure!" Luffy yelled at the top of his voice.

Zoro had a grim look on his face, Buggy could use that against Luffy. Nami was also watching, observing Luffy's battle.

"I thought that he was someone who couldn't take anything seriously. But he's that passionate about it," Nami muttered, she realized that Luffy really wasn't a regular pirate. Thinking back, Vergil wasn't a regular devil either, she couldn't hear it, but she was sure the battle between two devils was still ongoing.

"Huh? It seems like that hat has some history," Buggy realized, a plan began forming in his head if the straw hat was so important than it would be a good target. But in the back of his head there was a voice he was trying hard to ignore, if the hat was the one he thought it was, then… No, he couldn't let that thought distract him, the hat was a way to provoke the enemy, and he was going to take the chance.

"That's right!" Luffy replied but then as Buggy threw one knife at him he was forced to dodge and left his hat open.

"If it's that important, then take good care of it!" Buggy yelled as his hand shot toward the hat.

"Ah!" Luffy gasped but the knives were stopped by his crewmate. Zoro was blocking them with his sword.

"Sorry for interfering, Luffy, but If someone is trying to destroy your treasure what kind of Nakama would I be if I just sat by and watched?" Zoro explained and glared at Buggy.

"Shishishi! Thanks, Zoro." Luffy thanked them, interfering with battles, he sure didn't want that, but he cared about his straw hat more. "You, how dare you try to do that to Shanks' hat!" Luffy yelled at Buggy whose eyes widened.

"Shanks' hat? No wonder it looked so familiar, he always wore it next to me," Buggy said bitterly, his blood boiling, Shanks' hat, this brat had no idea what that hat was. And the nerve of Shanks, to just hand that straw hat to some worthless kid. How dare he do such a thing?!

"You were on the same ship as Shanks?" Luffy asked, his curiosity replacing the anger.

But before Buggy could even think of a reply a loud crash caused a gust of wind to hit all of them. And as the dust began to settle they saw a building on the side of the street was falling apart.

_**~X~**_

"Say, why did you let Nami get away the first time?" Vergil couldn't help but ask, though he was thankful for whatever reason Payac had.

"I was resting. It gets more difficult with time," Payac explained and it sounded honest.

Vergil couldn't calm down his heart. This was what he was missing; a fight against a devil. Fighting Luffy was fun and good for him, but this was a real fight. Not a spar and as he felt Payac's power spike up he smirked.

The first thing he saw as Payac stood up was the devil's sclera turning pure yellow, the slit pupils widened a bit and then the devil changed. He was no longer fully like a human. The marks around his eyes turned into the ground like texture and spread down so that it was covering the upper half of his cheeks as well. Additional pair of arms extended from his shoulders, fully functioning and more muscular than the rest of his body. Payac growled, baring his now sharp teeth and the gruff disembodied groan invoked the last bit of transformation. Earth fell off his body and formed curved spikes on his knees to complete the transformation. "_**When was the last time I needed to transform?**_" Payac grunted.

For a moment Vergil hoped the man was deceiving him, but the wavering power wasn't something that could be faked. Even by the infamous Deceiver. He was already over forty years old after all. '_Pity, but that's how it is, he is getting old and isn't practicing nearly as much as he should,_' that was the price of using soul as a weapon. Shortening your own life to gain power. "Transform? You're barely Half-awakened," he didn't even taunt, he was simply saying the truth.

Payac laughed maniacally, the disembodied tone of his voice made the laughter even creepier than it should have been. "_**It's enough for a brat that can't even do that,**_" yet he wasn't attacking. He was waiting for Vergil to attack first.

"What's wrong? I could just wait it out and you'll revert back," Vergil reminded the older devil. The moment he said that he felt the ground shake ever so slightly. He jumped back in the nick of time and evaded a large pillar of earth. The moment he landed another one shot up, right from underneath him. "**Grounding**," he quickly slammed an electrified fist into the ground, shattering the pillar before it could hit him. The moment lightning faded away two pillars emerged at an angle, one at 45 degrees right towards his head and the other at a much lower angle heading for his knees.

Vergil leaped forward only to feel a palm on his back. He could only look back as Payac grabbed a hold of him and slammed him into the ground. The impact forced a bit of blood to trail down Vergil's chin, but he was far from finished. Payac split the ground and pushed him further down. For a split second Vergil's eyes widened as the ground around him began closing in, threatening to crush him. "You sure take me for an amateur," he grumbled and discharged electricity above his back. With Payac forced to let go of him he charged lightning up even further and made it go through the roof. With path open, he jumped through and got out of the basement.

Using a pillar to follow his enemy Payac was right behind Vergil, not in any way bothered that Vergil was no longer surrounded on all sides. In fact, he was smirking as he separated a few small rocks from the pillar he was rising on. The rocks were pretty much catapulted towards Vergil.

Vergil leaped to the side, dodging the rocks, from the corner of his eye he could see Payac moving his hands around and felt the rocks approaching him again. He halted on the roof and then, just before one of the rocks hit him he jumped up. His eyes narrowed as he realized Payac had very good control over his little weapons, after all, the one that was closest to him when he jumped didn't hit the ground. Again he was forced to zap to the safety and realizing that dodging wasn't helping he charged an orb of darkness above his palm to shoot the rocks down.

Two orbs of darkness went to meet the rocks, though Payac made them change direction in the last moment. Vergil, slightly taken aback, was forced into discharging electricity to destroy the rocks. The next thing he knew he needed to jump up to evade the pebbles from hitting him. He landed on the rake and then his left knee buckled, one of the pebbles pierced through the skin just below his knee.

_'Not even a hindrance,'_ he thought as he pulled the sticking pebble out. Payac separated a large chunk of ground from the ground below them and chucked it at Vergil. "Seriously?" he even smirked, but his left leg wasn't moving. He looked down, eyes wide, and gritted his teeth just as the boulder hit him and sent him off the building. A layer of the ground was forming over his knee making his entire leg from the knee down useless.

Payac landed not too far away from him. "_**You were careless,**_" he stated as he slowly walked over to Vergil.

"Yeah, I heard the stories, but to think that you could still use it," normally devils began rapidly getting weaker once at the age of forty, yet here Payac was, almost effortlessly, as far as Vergil was concerned, using **Solid Stone Soul**. Well, that explained extra arms.

"**Solid Stone Soul: Burial!**" Payac grunted, clearly straining himself as earth spread from the small layer around Vergil's knee and began closing in around him.

"I would stop if I were you," Vergil warned, though in his position it really did look like an empty threat.

As the ground completely covered the white-haired devil Payac fell to his knee and the form he had taken faded away.

"I warned you," Vergil's voice made him lift his head and look at the crumbling ground. As it began falling off he could hear electricity crackling around the younger male. "**Zone Of Protection**. I set it up as soon as I fell," Vergil was once again standing, not a single speck of dust was on his body as the bright blue electricity illuminated his body.

Still, Vergil was also eager to end this, it's been a long time since he used that ability. He needed to make use of the electricity he formed. He directed half of it to his feet and the other half to his fist. Before Payac could recover he charged forward, slamming his fist into the taller devil's guts and the two slammed into the building on the other side of the street. Electricity exploded forcing the two through another house and finally, they stopped in the middle of the main street. Payac face-first on the ground and Vergil skidding across on his feet before coming to a stop.

"PAYAC?!" Buggy's loud shriek of utter shock made him wince, just how loud did the clown have to be.

"Hey, Vergil!" Luffy waved at him, it looked like he was fine.

"Just a moment Luffy," Vergil assured him and went to Payac's fallen form. "It's over."

Payac didn't try to move, he just clenched his fist. "Yes, for you."

Vergil jerked back, his hand going straight for his eyes. "You damned…" he gasped. "Dirt in the eyes," he couldn't see a thing.

"Say goodbye to your eyes as the dust grows!" Payac roared and moved out of the way before Vergil could kick him.

_'I don't have time!' _Vergil thought, realizing that there was nothing he could do at the moment. _'Range, there has to be a range!'_

"Luffy! He'll get Vergil's eyes! Punch him away!" Nami's shout brought the tiniest bit of hope as Vergil himself zapped away from Payac.

"Got it!" Luffy wasn't wasting a moment, but Payac was already concentrating.

"Where do you think you're going?! **Bara Bara Festival**!" Buggy exclaimed, realizing that this was the chance they needed, his entire body separated into small segments and he began following after Luffy. "If you think you can help your friend you better do it before I cut you up, rubber man!"

"Stay out of my way!" Luffy yelled and ducked under a knife, he needed to get to Payac in time.

Zoro and Nami were also moving. Zoro went in between Buggy and Luffy, his swords out as he blocked the knives.

Luffy pulled his arms back now that he only had Payac to focus on. "**Gomu Gomu no Bazooka**!" as exhausted as the older devil was he was an easy target and Luffy's attack hit him square on the chest. It not only broke his concentration but sent him flying off the island. Luffy then grabbed onto Zoro's forearm and slammed his foot into Buggy's face. The splitting man was too distracted to separate his body and ended up sliding down the street and digging a long path before he finally stopped seemingly unconscious, his body parts fell down to the ground. "You can take that kick as the gift from the mayor," Luffy said and then turned to Vergil. "Vergil! Your eyes?!" he wasn't sure if he made it in time.

Vergil gave him a thumb up, and though he was blinking his eyes were intact. "I owe you for that. Thanks," he certainly did, to everyone.

"Shishishi! Don't mention it," Luffy grinned, relieved, and happy to see he made it in time.

Zoro seemed just as glad, despite only knowing Vergil for a few days.

"You can pay me back with money," Nami teased.

"You just had to ruin it," Zoro sighed and the four shared a brief laugh.

"It's not over yet, rubber man," Buggy stated, maliciousness seemed to radiate around him.

Nami slowly backed away this time behind Vergil.

"He's persistent," Zoro said as he joined the two.

"He's a pain in the ass if you ask me," Vergil groaned, obviously annoyed, he was getting sick of Buggy and his crew.

"He's still alive!" Luffy seemed quite surprised at the endurance Buggy had.

"Don't joke around! How dare you inflict so much pain to me!" Buggy exclaimed, his anger skyrocketing up to eleven.

Nami suddenly ran off again as Luffy prepared to fight more.

"**Reassemble! Bara Bara Parts**!" Buggy declared but as his body reassembled he was only a head with pairs of hands and feet… "Eh?"

"The hell?" Vergil blinked a couple of times, unsure if what he was seeing was real, or if the dust was obscuring his view.

"Now that's something you don't see every day," Zoro was just as hesitant to accept the sight in front of his eyes.

"And of course, It's her fault," Vergil grumbled as he looked at Nami.

The female in question was resting her foot on the tied parts of Buggy's body. "Are you looking for these?" she taunted.

"My parts!" Buggy cried out.

Luffy began laughing as he threw and stretched his arms back. "No wonder you're a thief. Hey Buggy! **Gomu Gomu no**-"

"I'm dead," Buggy realized.

"**Bazooka**!" Luffy exclaimed, the attack hit Buggy dead on and sent him flying far away.

Nami sweatdropped as Luffy lifted his arms up and cheered. "I win!"

"Your hat is a bit damaged," Nami commented as she looked at the slightly cut part.

"It's fine, I can still wear it. I'm not angry at Buggy anymore since I kicked his ass," Luffy stated as he looked at his hat, he wasn't exactly happy, but it could have been worse.

"Don't worry; I'll help you patch it up later," she muttered Luffy didn't hear her.

"Huh?" Luffy asked.

"Nothing at all. Hey, is that treasure safe to take now? I'd rather not leave it behind?" her question was directed at Vergil.

Vergil thought back for a moment and finally nodded. "Some of it might be buried under the rubble though."

"You never give up do you?" Luffy asked her.

"Buggy was very selective about his treasure so everything here is high quality. There's got to be at least 10 million beri over there," she stated happily and with a rather big smile on her face. Even if some of it was buried.

Luffy and Vergil smiled while Zoro looked neutral.

Nami looked at Luffy for a moment and the showed them the map. "And I got us a map," she bragged.

"You got it?" Luffy asked things were going surprisingly well.

"Of course, I rob pirates after all," she was rather proud of that.

"Great, Nami! Thanks!" Luffy thanked her cheerfully, he was now one step closer to his goal. "All right! we've finally got the map to the Grand Line!" as the rubber captain cheered and celebrated Nami smiled, kind of sad though, it didn't go unnoticed by Vergil who looked at her.

"Now! Let's go dig out the treasure!" as thankful as she was for the strength of her allies there was no way she'd go into a building that could crumble any moment on her own.

_**~X~**_

Surprisingly quickly, barely ten minutes away, the group was back outside with two bags filled with treasure.

"Anything else we need before we go?" Vergil asked as he and Luffy carried the treasure bags.

"We should check on the mayor first," Nami suggested.

"Yeah, the old man," Luffy agreed, the group made their way to the place where they left Boodle unconscious only to see the residents of the city around him.

"Who are they?" Zoro questioned.

"If I had to guess, I'd say they were the citizens," Vergil said.

"Hey, who are you guys?" Luffy asked getting the attention of the people around Boodle.

"We are the citizens of this town. Do you know what happened to the pirates? Please tell us if they were the ones who did this to the mayor," one of the citizens asked for the answers.

"I had to knock him out," Vergil admitted casually.

His confession earned him the anger-filled looks from all the citizens.

"Hey! You didn't have to say that!" Nami hissed at him.

The devil frowned at that. "I don't want to lie," he replied.

"Why did you hurt our mayor?!" One of the citizens demanded as they were suddenly standing in front of Vergil, this also made Nami scream.

"No excuses!" another one stated.

"Are you related to those pirates?" the third one asked furiously.

"Such a scary death vibe. If we are not careful and use words such as thief or pirate," Nami realized then the trouble magnet known as Luffy's mouth opened.

"We are pirates," he stated.

Nami began falling to the side comically as Vergil and Zoro laughed.

Nami grabbed onto Vergil's shoulder and pressed her forehead against it for support. "How did that idiot manage to get a devil to follow him?" she muttered more to herself than anyone.

"You'll figure it out sooner or later," Vergil grinned.

Nami lifted her head and glared at him weakly.

"We knew it!" citizens yelled.

"Idiot!" Nami yelled at Luffy furiously as she let go of the devil's shoulder.

"What? It's the truth," Luffy defended himself.

"What are we going to do now? They aren't going to listen anymore," Zoro asked making Luffy grin.

"Shishishihi. Run!" Luffy yelled and began running, these people couldn't beat him, but he didn't want to fight them. And neither did the rest of his crew.

"We won't forgive you for hurting out mayor!" "We won't let you escape!" and all other sorts of threats burst from behind the running pirate crew.

"Why are you always talking without using your brain?" Nami demanded as they kept running.

"This is a good town," Luffy told her.

"Eh?"

"They are all willing to do their best to fight for the mayor's sake. No matter what excuse we make they'll still be mad at us," Luffy explained, Vergil and Zoro grinned as Nami looked back. "Hey turn here!" Luffy informed Nami as he, Vergil, and Zoro suddenly turned to their right and went through the narrower street.

"W-Wait! Don't say it at the last second!" Nami shouted after him.

"They turned to the alley!" one of the citizens shouted.

Their eyes widened when they were greeted by the familiar dog.

"Chouchou?" Nami exclaimed.

"Dog?!" Luffy grinned happily.

"Hey there, buddy!" Vergil greeted him quickly.

The crew jumped over Chouchou and kept running but as the citizens tried to follow them Chouchou barked. "Woof! Woof!"

"Hey, move out of the way Chouchou! They are the evil pirates! You shouldn't be barking at us!" one of the citizens told the dog, but Chouchou just kept barking and blocking their path.

At this Luffy grinned. "Thanks, doggie!" rubber boy thanked Chouchou.

"See you later!" Vergil added.

Some running later and mostly thanks to Chouchou, the group had successfully escaped without engaging in a fight and reached the shore.

"Finally. We managed to escape somehow thanks to Chouchou," Nami said as she panted a bit. "Why did we have to get into this situation?"

"It's not that bad. We finished what we planned," Luffy pointed out.

"Well that's true, but, forget it, let's just set sail," Nami just gave up and hoped this wouldn't turn into regular occurrence.

_**~X~**_

The two boats set sail once again.

"That boat still has Buggy's flag," Zoro pointed out.

"It's their boat; I'll take it down some other time," Nami reasoned, suddenly they heard a shout.

"Hey, wait!" they turned to the town to see Boodle, panting and tired but there.

"It's the mayor!" Luffy realized.

"Sorry! I'll return the favor one day!" Boodle said as tears fell down his cheeks.

"Don't worry! Take it easy!" Luffy told him. And he certainly could take it easy with the bag of treasure left behind…

_**~X~**_

And Nami found out. Eventually. And all hell broke loose. "What did you say?!" Nami yelled. "You left a bag of treasure behind?!" she demanded a confirmation.

"Yeah," Luffy replied casually as he leaned his elbows against the boat.

"Just that one bag was worth 5 million!" she yelled.

"But if they want to rebuild the town they need money." Luffy pointed out.

"That was my treasure!" Nami shouted, of course, she understood that those people needed money to rebuild their town, but she needed it and frankly, she believed her case was more urgent.

"He makes a good point you know," Vergil sided with Luffy and unfortunately turned Nami's anger at himself.

"Do you know how hard it was for me to steal that!" she shrieked at him.

"Don't care," he replied indifferently.

"That does it!" Nami yelled as she grabbed the collar of his shirt and started shaking him when that wasn't enough to calm her rage she began pushing his head toward the water.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Vergil yelled as he tried to fight back but surprise coupled with slight exhaustion and simply not taking Nami too seriously made it impossible to win.

"Shut up! How dare you fight back?!" Nami shouted. "I'll really push you into the water!"

And then it happened. Vergil fell into the water.

At first, Luffy and Zoro laughed while Nami breathed hard, but when the devil didn't emerge the laughter stopped and two pirates began panicking as Nami began looking a bit worried.

Suddenly, Zoro noticed a thumb up beneath the surface and smirked but continued acting as if he was panicking.

Nami turned around to the other side of her boat to look but as she turned her head to the left another thing happened.

"Kyaaa!" Nami screamed as she felt hands grab her waist and pull her into the water. Zoro and Luffy burst out laughing when she emerged on the surface completely soaked; all of her caution flew out of the window as she began strangling the white-haired devil. Damn him for covering his neck with a thin layer of darkness, she couldn't properly squeeze him! "You bastard!" Nami yelled at him while Vergil grinned in a rather triumphal way before raising his right hand.

"Hey, guys! It's progress! Now I'm a bastard!" Vergil exclaimed as Nami squeezed his neck even harder. He could feel his muscles twitch, his body was trying to react, even with the darkness keeping him safe, but he reined in his instincts and allowed the girl to keep strangling him. Two dry pirates were however still laughing.

"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed hard.

"Hahaha," Zoro couldn't help but join in; the crew was getting livelier and livelier.

"Come on now Nami, it's not that bad," Vergil said, his grin never once fading.

"Shut it! Now I'm all wet!" she yelled at him but then he grabbed her waist and lifted her up.

"There you go. A little joke can't hurt right?" Vergil said as he sat her down on the edge of the boat.

"You are an idiot, pulling me into the water like that," she muttered feeling a bit less angry as the white-haired devil smiled.

"See? It's fun, as silly as it is," Vergil said when she smiled a bit and looked him in the eyes.

"You aren't like him," she mumbled almost inaudibly. His reaction to her grabbing his neck was enough to solidify that.

"Huh?" Vergil was confused but figured she was talking about the devil that hurt her.

"It's nothing. Forget what I just said," she told him, and while not buying that it's nothing Vergil still nodded.

"Whatever you say, I'm here if you need to talk though," he told her and climbed onto her boat before jumping over to Luffy and Zoro who fortunately didn't pay much attention to the last part of the conversation.

* * *

_**Orange Town – Completed**_

* * *

_**Two arcs, four chapters, I moved a few things around and had to figure out what to do with Vergil since anything I thought about made him steal the spotlight. Orange town is, as far as I'm concerned one of the worst arcs to add an OC to and I can't remember when I felt like my hands were tied as much as here. And that's how Payac was created, get used to him, he's here to stay, when Buggy is present at least.**_

_**Last of all, I'll use Japanese names for Zoro's attacks, I'm just more used to them. But do tell me how you fell about that. **_

_**Reviews keep me motivated.**_

* * *

_**Answers on reviews:**_

_**JokerAka – I'm very glad to hear that. Thank you.**_

_**scarlet rose white – Thank you, this part doesn't have too many changes compared to the previous version. There's a difference in some things I set up in Black Thunder that don't fit with what I had in mind and that's roughly about it. Still, I'm glad you like that.**_

_**Guest – Good to hear.**_

_**SubZPhantomX – Yeah, she is dead. No coming back from that. We've already talked about Vergil's condition so I won't repeat myself. Anyway, I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. **_

_**muhamed3871 – Thanks, it would be kind of bad if it wasn't though.**_

_**Guest – Thank you.**_

_**Sagicknight – Thanks.**_


	5. Island of liars

_**Arc 3 – Syrup Village**_

* * *

_**Chapter 5 – Island of liars**_

* * *

Five days… for five days they were stuck on their little boats doing exactly what they were doing now. Nothing. Vergil stretched his limbs as much as he could as he continued laying on the boat. He rolled his shoulders a few times and groaned.

"Just sleep, Vergil," Zoro told him, he sounded a bit annoyed.

Frankly, Vergil was equally annoyed. After all, he had been repeating the same thing every fifteen minutes. "I can't, I have too much energy to sleep," he complained; just lying around for five days wasn't doing anything to help.

Luffy tossed him an apple and Vergil tossed it right back. "That's only going to give me more energy," he explained.

Luffy just shrugged and bit into the apple.

"Yeah, good thing you didn't eat anything since yesterday. If you did you'd still think about swimming after us," Nami told him, she was looking at her map, more to pass time than anything else really. Quickly she sent a warning glare to Vergil. "Don't even think about it again."

Vergil sighed and roughly five minutes later he sat up. "Luffy, we need a ship," he stated, if they didn't reach an island soon he'd go crazy.

Nami nodded approvingly. "Vergil's right, we can't go to the Grand Line, we don't have the proper equipment and the crews we'll encounter will be strong."

"Let's just get more Nakama then," Luffy stated only adding fuel to Nami's arguments.

"Not only do our boats lack equipment but we lack the manpower as well. There's no way we can even make it there safely," she pointed out the obvious fact, even with three rather powerful fighters and exceptionally skilled navigator there was no way they could just sail into the Grand Line.

"Looks like we still need a chef, and a musician," Luffy said pointing out a need for a rather strange crew position to be filled.

"Musician?" Zoro asked before he began laughing.

"Are you stupid?" Nami wondered.

Vergil chuckled at that. "He's been going on and on about having a musician, get used to it."

Nami sighed while Luffy just kept munching on an apple.

Vergil brushed it off as nothing important. "So, where are we heading next?"

"If we head south there is a small inhabited island. It would be best if we found a good ship there," Nami replied.

"All right! Time to eat some meat!" Luffy cheered happily.

"Don't forget sake," Zoro reminded him.

This actually pissed Nami off. "You guys!" she yelled and was about to keep yelling when Vergil butted in.

"Ship will make everything easier and better. More space for moving and supplies. More space for meat, Luffy, and a kitchen," Vergil explained, knowing that if things were explained in that way Luffy would see it the reasons. Most importantly he hated not being able to move as much as he wanted to.

"You do have a point," Zoro agreed.

"Let's go! Wait for us meat! And ship," Luffy exclaimed.

"Ship is your second priority?" Zoro asked, his face matching the disbelief he felt.

"At least he made it his priority," Nami stated knowing that this was probably the best she could get.

_**~X~**_

The crew had finally stepped onto the inhabited island Nami was talking about. It wasn't anything special really, just a common relatively small island with usual forest everywhere they looked. Though there was a slope probably leading to a village, perhaps it was man-made, or nature just had a funny way of helping out.

Nami's eye twitched as she watched the soaked First Mate stretch with a pleased look on his face. "I still can't believe you actually swam to the shore," the last thing she imagined was Vergil actually being so desperate to move that he jumped into the water the moment they spotted the island.

"I hate not being able to move," Vergil replied and charged lightning to dry his clothes.

"Really? I didn't notice," Nami's voice was pretty much dripping with sarcasm.

Zoro also used the opportunity to do a bit of stretching out as the other three looked around. "It's been a while since we've been on the land!"

"Ah, so the village is further down the way?" Luffy asked.

"Yes, although it's a small village," Nami said as she looked at her map.

Luffy ran up to her and pretty much invaded her personal space as the orange-haired girl leaned to her side and away from the drooling captain. "There will be some food right? Meat, meat, meat, meat, meat. They should have some food in the village right?" he rejoiced at the thought of meat.

"Can you not think about eating meat all the time?" Nami asked, annoyance was clearly noticeable in her voice.

While the two were oblivious to their surrounding the other half of the crew was more perceptive.

Zoro smirked when he realized Vergil also noticed their observers. "So you can notice obvious things when you pay attention," he commented.

Vergil chuckled at that. "Guess you're right," he looked back at Luffy and Nami. "We've got company."

Zoro pointed his finger toward top of the hill near them, where a teen and three kids watched them from behind some bushes.

Apparently being spotted that easily scared the kids and all that was left was a long-nosed black-haired teen. "Hey! Don't run away!"

His shouts didn't help and he was left alone with four pirates.

The teen, Usopp, knowing there was only one way to deal with the situation stood up and crossed his arms. He did his best to stand tall and look confident as he declared. "I am the leader of the great pirate crew that conquered this village, Usopp! Everyone praises me and addresses me as captain Usopp!" Usopp boasted.

The four pirates looked unfazed, they didn't even move from their spots.

"If you are thinking about attacking this village you should just save your strength! Otherwise, my 80 million men will crush you like a little bug!" Usopp obviously exaggerated.

"You suppose 80 million people could even stand on this small island?" Vergil muttered to himself in disbelief, he had heard a lot of ridiculous lies but this one took the cake.

"Incredible!" Luffy, the rather easy to fool captain, completely believed Usopp.

Zoro looked at the man he chose to follow, Nami sighed and Vergil just accepted it, his captain was kind of stupid 99 percent of the time.

"It's a lie," Nami decided to be the one to point out the so obvious, but still effective on some, lie.

Usopp grabbed the sides of his head in panic. "She saw right through it!"

"You see. He said I saw through it," Nami said, there was a devious smile on her face.

Usopp wiggled his body around. "She saw right through it! This is bad!" he cried leaving the navigator speechless.

"Humans are strange," Vergil was taken aback by the display in front of him; this wasn't what he expected of humans. Sure he knew things could get strange in this world, according to what his mother had told him, but this was not what he envisioned. Well, the fact that his experience prior to meeting Luffy narrowed down to interacting with just one human probably had something to do with that.

"What? He was lying?" Luffy asked in disbelief.

That statement brought Vergil out of his thoughts and he turned to Luffy. "Luffy, a ton of meat can't fit on our boats. How could 80 million people even stand together on an island this small? I doubt even a million people could stand on this island let alone live on it," Vergil pointed out as Luffy turned to him.

"A ton of meat!" Luffy sang as his eyes shone from happiness.

"You are missing the point, he's lying," Vergil casually reminded him, clearly he wasn't nearly as bothered by Luffy's lack of common sense as he should be.

Nami sighed, how Vergil could refrain himself from hitting Luffy when the younger male got like this was something she couldn't understand after all when Luffy needed an explanation he'd first go to Vergil and they all realized that explaining something to Luffy was hell of a hard thing.

Luffy, however, didn't mind the lie, in fact, he laughed. "Hahahaha. You are quite an interesting fellow," Luffy said to Usopp.

"Why you!" Usopp was getting angry and furthermore, he wanted to protect his village. "Don't laugh at me! I am a man of the great pride!" he told them as he roamed through his satchel he pulled out a slingshot and another pachinko before aiming at Luffy. "Because of my great pride, everyone calls me Usopp the proud."

Luffy's straw hat overshadowed his eyes.

"As you have seen. My skills with pachinko overcome even pistol!" Usopp for once didn't lie; his skills when it came to sharpshooting were clearly superior to most people.

"Since you mentioned pistols. Bet your life on it," Luffy began; he looked up at now scared Usopp. "It's not a tool to scare people."

Vergil and Zoro got what he was doing and decided to join in.

Zoro slightly unsheathed his swords allowing the blade to shine on the sunlight. "The one that stands before you is the real pirate," he said with a sort of evil smile on his face.

Usopp's confidence began crumbling and it was crashing down rather quickly.

A couple of sparks surrounded Vergil's right fist as he smirked.

That did it for Usopp and the fact that his eyes met with Luffy's didn't help him at all. Pachinko fell to the ground and Usopp dropped to his knees. He had tears in his eyes. "As I thought, the real pirate's speech is much more intimidating. Incredible."

Luffy's serious face melted into a smile as he shared a glance with Vergil and Zoro, the three males began laughing. "I just repeated what someone said," Luffy admitted, it was true, he repeated what Shanks said. "The pirate I deeply respect, Shanks."

This completely surprised Usopp. "Sha-Shanks you say?! The Red Haired Shanks?! You know that great pirate?!" Usopp asked in disbelief and awe.

"Yeah. Yasopp isn't it? Your dad's name," Luffy pretty much stated.

Vergil raised an eyebrow questioning a sudden, not to mention a very specific, statement.

Usopp's eyes popped out as he fell and rolled down to the crew. Luffy smiled as the liar sat up and looked at him.

"It's true that Yasopp is my father's name, but how do you know that?" Usopp asked.

"How about you continue this conversation in some inn or somewhere we can eat?" Nami interrupted.

Needless to say, no one complained.

_**~X~**_

Usopp led the crew to the local inn and right now they all had a rather good meal. Zoro sat next to Luffy drinking his sake while Luffy chewed on a piece of meat. On the opposite side of the table Vergil and Nami ate their portions of rice.

"Pretty good isn't it," he said as a more of a statement rather than a question.

"I met him when I was young," Luffy told him referring to Yasopp.

"My father was on Shanks' ship?" Usopp asked, there was a nice amount of pride in his voice due to that fact.

"Yeah, you look just like your father, so when I first saw you I thought you were his son," Luffy stated without once pausing his meal.

"Really? I never thought my father would be on such an amazing ship!" Usopp exclaimed delightfully.

"I don't know what's the situation now, but he's probably still with him," Luffy said and took an apple. "Your father's marksmanship was elite," he continued as a fond memory crossed his mind. Yasopp could shoot anything, from any distance, as a sniper there probably wasn't anyone who could match him. "Usopp, I heard stories about you time and time again my ears almost fell off. Yasopp is a great pirate," Luffy assured him, thus making Usopp even happier.

"Exactly what I thought! To disregard his own life and indulge himself in the vast and endless sea; I feel so proud of my father," Usopp expressed his admiration for his father.

"Then that makes our discussion much easier," Nami said turning Usopp's attention to her. "Hey, is there anyone in this village that can sail a ship or acquire a large ship?"

Usopp let out a sigh. "As you can see, this is a very small village. I'm sorry but there is no way to fulfill your request."

Vergil glanced at him; the younger male was looking away and leaning his cheek on his hand, it may have not been too obvious, but Vergil could see that he was nervous.

"On top of the hill," Zoro began, prompting Usopp's eyes to widen a bit. "There was a large mansion."

"Hey Usopp, do you know them? I wonder if we can ask them for a little financial support," Nami said, her hands were clapped together as she tried and succeeded to look endearing.

"You can't go there!" Usopp suddenly yelled surprising them. "Aah I just remembered that I still have to do something!" Usopp exclaimed. "I know the owner of this inn very well so feel free to order anything you want!" he told them as he stood up. "Well I'll be on my way then!" he didn't wait for an answer, he just ran off.

"What happened? All of a sudden?" Nami wondered.

"He's hiding something," Vergil replied.

"How do you know?" Luffy asked curiously.

"Body language," Vergil tried to sort of explain.

"Now that you mention it, he was a bit fidgety," Nami concluded.

"Hm?" Luffy didn't seem too aware of the idea behind what the two were saying.

Nami sighed, feeling a headache just from the thought of Luffy's obliviousness.

"Think of it like this. You have a piece of meat," Vergil began making Nami and Zoro drop to the ground abruptly.

"Just how, is he even going to try to explain that with meat?" Nami groaned as she looked at the devil incredulously.

"By looking at it you can tell if it's raw, cooked, fried, that kind of thing. If you see steam coming out of it, it's hot. By scent, you can sense what other ingredients were used. The same logic applies to humans or devils. Are they fidgeting, nervous, sweating, are they averting their eyes, if so chances are they are either uncomfortable or simply lying to you," the devil finished explaining prompting Nami and Zoro to facepalm.

"And Usopp was nervous. I see, so he's hiding something," Luffy's response caused his other two crewmates to once again fall down abruptly. "What's with you two? You're acting weird."

That did it for Nami; she stood up, raging with her teeth somehow turning shark-like. "You're the weird ones here!"

_**~X~**_

Just as the crew finished eating Tamanegi, Piiman and Ninjin barged in. "Usopp pirate crew is here!" they chorused together with wooden swords raised high above their heads.

"What's going on?" Nami leaned to her side so that she could see the boys.

"The captain's not here!" Ninjin realized.

"Don't tell me," Tamanegi muttered.

Piiman was the first to run up to them. "Hey pirates, what have you done to our captain Usopp?!" he demanded to know as other two ran up behind him.

"What have you done?!" they repeated.

"That was good meat!" Luffy exclaimed tapping his overgrown stomach.

"Not exactly the best timing, captain," Vergil couldn't help but smirk.

"Meat?!" boys shrieked thinking that the pirates ate their captain.

Nami chuckled a bit.

Zoro, after he realized what they were thinking, decided to play a joke on them. "Your captain was," a sinister grin appeared on his face. "Eaten."

"Aaaah!" Boys screamed and looked at Nami. "Onibaba!" they yelled.

"Why are you looking at me?!" Nami yelled at them, her teeth resembled that of a shark with the way she was raging.

"They aren't that wrong," Vergil chimed in turning Nami's anger at himself.

"What was that?! Vergil you bastard!" she yelled as she punched him.

Zoro and Luffy laughed as three boys lied down on the floor gasping for air.

"It's all because you guys are stupid!" Nami scolded, which trio she scolded was yet to be determined.

"It was a joke," Ninjin said once the pirate crew explained it to them. They were all heading toward the mansion.

"But he's also scary. We thought he eats humans," Piiman dared to say.

"I am not going to eat humans," Vergil firmly said. "Ever again," he said seriously, his expression blank,

Three boys along with Nami screamed. Hell, Nami even jumped away.

"You are joking right?" Zoro asked just to make sure.

The devil in question chuckled at the reaction. "Yes, I am joking," Vergil confirmed.

Boys breathed out a sigh of relief but Nami walked up to him and tried to punch him on the side of the head, much to her annoyance he simply ducked underneath her fist

"You bastard what was that for?!" she yelled.

"A laugh," he supplied only to tilt his head to the side in order to avoid another punch.

"Stupid devils," she mumbled giving up on punching him right now. Or at least until the opportunity presented itself to her.

"Everything in the same basket, eh?" he looked to the side, which wasn't the smartest thing to do as Nami finally landed a punch to the side of his head.

"Shut it!" she yelled at him.

_'There they go again,'_ Zoro thought as he sweat-dropped. The navigator and the first mate agreed and got along just fine for the most part, though they weren't above getting into short rounds of whatever that was just now.

"Wait," Tamanegi stopped abruptly. "Devils? As in demons?"

"Yeah, Vergil's a devil," Luffy confirmed it.

There was a very brief delay in reaction. And then it happened, the three boys began running around, screaming and panicking.

Vergil's eyebrow twitched at that, but he had to accept that this was a normal reaction.

"He's going to eat us!" Piiman screamed.

"We're all gonna die!" Ninjin cried out.

Luffy laughed. "These kids are funny!" he grinned at Vergil.

"Yeah, real precious angels," Vergil deadpanned. Still, he clenched his fist for a single moment.

"All right, all right. I know he's scary and evil-looking, but he's not going to hurt you," Nami decided to calm them down.

"Thanks for the compliments Nami, really means a lot," Vergil's eyebrow twitched once again at the way their navigator just described him.

The orange-haired girl ignored him. "If you pet him he might even do some tricks," she was probably trying to lighten the mood and for kids, it sort of worked.

Vergil, on the other hand, was slowly growing frustrated, especially when the boys stopped and looked at him like he was some party clown or circus animal about to do a trick. "I am not doing any tricks, now leave me be."

Nami shot him a brief glare. "What's with you?" she hissed under her breath.

Vergil leaned slightly towards her. "I am a devil, not a show for someone's amusement," he countered.

Nami's eyes widened for a brief moment. "Vergil, it wasn't like that," her voice was a bit softer than usual but Vergil just looked to the side.

"I'm going for a walk," he muttered and stood up. "I'll see you later," he said, briefly locking eyes with Luffy.

Luffy was uncharacteristically silent, it was as if there was something only he and Vergil knew. A reason for Vergil's behavior only Luffy understood. Quicker than anyone could question it, Luffy grinned. "Sure, later!"

Vergil smiled slightly and walked out.

"Luffy? What's with him?" Nami asked, not really sure what caused such a strong reaction from Luffy's first mate.

Luffy just grinned. "Not saying!"

Nami sighed, there was no point in trying to get the information out of the rubber man, she didn't really care and it wouldn't change anything.

_**~X~**_

Vergil was laying on the grass field near the road simply looking at the sky. Eventually, he turned to his side and closed his eyes. "I'm not doing damn tricks," he muttered as he fell asleep.

A sound of walking woke him up not even half an hour later and he sat up to see a strange, backward walking, man dressed in a blue trench coat, a white shirt, and green-brown gloves. Along with that, the man was wearing light brown pants with a black belt, black shoes, and big white socks, not to mention that he had a blue hat, red lenses heart-shaped glasses, and a strange thing on his chin.

"Who are you?" the man asked.

"Mind your own business," Vergil replied as he jumped over the fence and began walking down the path in the opposite direction. He wasn't in the mood for weirdoes.

"You shouldn't ignore people," the man scolded him. "Come on, I could show you a fun trick."

Vergil's eyes widened slightly and he clenched his fist. He turned around to see a man holding a blade in the shape of a ring in front of him. "Put that away before I break it," he stated, the menacing chill in his voice made the strange man shiver slightly.

"Fine, fine," the man relented and the two separated without further contact.

Vergil began walking and then a realization hit him. "Shit, I have no idea where the others are."

_**~X~**_

Luffy ran down the road, if he continued running he would eventually run into Usopp. As he ran he saw a white-haired individual in the distance and grinned. "Vergil!" he yelled, recognizing his first mate.

Vergil turned around and Luffy's grin widened. "Let's find Usopp!"

Vergil raised an eyebrow but Luffy just ran past him and a moment later Vergil began running as well.

"Did something happen?" Vergil asked.

Luffy nodded. "Yeah, some caretaker insulted him," he wasn't grinning anymore, it didn't sit well with Luffy, Yasopp was a great pirate and he liked Usopp as well.

"Got it," Vergil looked around. "Let's try going up that hill, we might spot him," he pointed to his right.

"You're camping," Luffy said as he and Vergil ran up the hill.

"Huh?"

Why was Vergil confused? that's what he said he was, a camping. "You're a camping, not a devil," he clarified

Suddenly, Vergil began laughing. "Oh boy, a camping," and when he said that he began laughing even harder.

"Vergil is being mean again," Luffy pouted, he didn't get what was so funny,

"Luffy, it's a cambion, not a camping," Vergil finally said, though he was still chuckling a bit.

"Yeah! That! That's what you are, not a devil!" he made sure his first mate knew he was serious.

Vergil smiled at that. "Thanks, Luffy, I appreciate that."

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed.

_**~X~**_

Usopp was looking at the sea from a hill just above the shore. Alone, with the sea as his only companion. Ever since he was a child the sea always calmed him down. When his mother was still alive he yearned for his father to come back and take them to the sea, but after his mother died he started losing hope. In the back of his head, he knew his father chose to be a pirate; that his father wasn't going to just come and take a child out to the sea.

So he found comfort in the sea, it connected him to the father he hadn't seen in years, it brought him peace and happiness. When he looked at the vast sea in front of him he could understand his father's desire to sail it, it was magnificent.

Usopp was so lost in his thoughts that he failed to notice someone approaching him.

"Yo!" Luffy greeted him suddenly.

So naturally, Usopp jumped away a bit as he saw Luffy hanging upside down on the branch and Vergil sitting on the branch.

"So this is where you were," Luffy looked at him curiously.

"Oh, it's just you two. Can't you greet normally next time?!" Usopp complained trying to calm his heart after such a surprise. "What is it? What do you want?"

"Nothing really," Luffy easily replied, he placed his hands on the ground and moved a bit closer to the edge before landing on his butt.

Vergil jumped down and sat on the ground.

"That damn caretaker," Usopp muttered. "How dare he insult my father?"

"I don't like him either. No matter what anyone says Yasopp is a great pirate," Luffy stated.

"Isn't that right? In this age of pirates, my father sails the ocean without knowing what's ahead. I feel really proud. However, that bastard dared to step over that pride! I will definitely not forgive him!" Usopp declared, his anger and pride pushed him toward much bolder words.

"But, will you see that lady again?" Luffy asked.

Usopp's eyes widened a bit but then he recomposed himself. "I don't know. If that caretaker comes and begs me I might consider it."

Luffy pointed at the shore below them. "That caretaker?"

"Yeah, that caretaker," Usopp began and then noticed exactly what Luffy was pointing at. "That caretaker! What is that caretaker doing here?!" Usopp almost yelled as he slammed Luffy's head to the ground and lowered himself as well.

Vergil followed the example and leaned over the edge next to Usopp.

Klahadore, surprisingly accompanied by none other than Jango, walked down the shore and conveniently stopped just underneath the trio…

"Hey Jango, didn't I tell you not to attract any attention in this village?" he asked the hypnotist. "Yet you were sleeping in the middle of the road."

"Don't be ridiculous I didn't attract any attention at all. I'm not a weirdo either," Jango stated acting rather weird for someone who claimed not to be a weirdo…

"Who is that weirdo with him?" Luffy asked and if even Luffy could see that someone was a weirdo then the case was closed.

"I've never seen him before," Usopp admitted.

"I did. Back when I separated from you guys, I came across him but I don't know who he is. Something about him just doesn't strike me as a harmless person though," Vergil replied and he didn't like that one bit.

"How do you know? He seems weird," Usopp asked, curious as to how the white-haired male could just tell.

"Looks can be deceiving," Vergil replied, it was a lesson he recently had to relearn, after nearly losing his eyes to Payac.

"So are the preparations for the operation complete?" Klahadore asked.

"Of course," Jango began; back at the mansion, Kaya was blissfully unaware of the truth as she ate her meal. "We can start anytime. The operation to assassinate the lady!" Jango revealed.

Usopp and Luffy's eyes widened while Vergil narrowed his eyes.

"Did he say assassinate?!" Usopp asked in disbelief.

"Don't say assassinate, it sounds wicked, Jango," Klahadore reminded him.

"Ah, that's right, an accident. It was an accident," Jango corrected himself. "You spent three years as a caretaker just for this?" Jango questioned. "It really surprised me back then, captain Kuro. Three years ago you said that you quit being a pirate. You got one of your subordinates to be a scapegoat in order for the world to think that the captain Kuro was executed," in his mind Jango could perfectly picture the execution of the pirate, the countless bullets running through the man's body. "That marked the beginning of your plan. No wonder they call you Kuro of a Hundred Plans."

"Don't call me by that name again. I gave it up three years ago," Klahadore, or rather Kuro, hissed at him, he held no desire whatsoever to ever be reminded of his time as a pirate. "I just want lots of money and not getting chased by the government. That makes me a peaceful citizen."

"Hey, what are they talking about?" Luffy asked.

"They want to kill that girl Kaya and make it look like an accident," Vergil explained.

"Keep quiet! I'm trying to hear!" Usopp hissed at them. "The village will be assaulted! And Kaya will be in danger! This is terrible!" Usopp cried in a hushed tone as he lowered his head.

At that moment Luffy and Vergil stood up.

"Hey if you stand up they'll see you!" Usopp tried to warn them.

"Hey, you there! Don't you dare hurt that lady!" Luffy yelled.

"Who are you?" Jango asked but then noticed Vergil and took a small barely noticeable step back.

"You idiot! They'll see us!" Usopp yelled at Luffy as he pulled onto Luffy's left arm.

"They already saw us," Vergil pointed out.

"Hurry up and hide or they'll kill us!" Usopp tried to persuade Luffy into hiding.

"Well, well, if it isn't Usopp-kun," Kuro said, his voice slightly decorated with anger.

"Ahh! I've been spotted too!" Usopp yelled panicking at the thought of getting killed.

Vergil sighed, feeling slightly annoyed at the younger male's reaction.

"Did you, hear anything?" Kuro asked threateningly.

"No, no, no! Did you say something? We were just passing by! We didn't hear anything!" Usopp tried to lie.

"That's one of the most obvious lies I have heard lately," Vergil sighed.

"I heard everything," Luffy replied bluntly without a moment of hesitation.

His honesty made the white-haired devil smirk a bit. That was more of an attitude he appreciated.

Usopp slapped Luffy on the chest lightly. "Hey!"

Kuro lowered his head and chuckled a bit before nodding to Jango.

"Ah, I guess it can't be helped," Jango said as he took out his ring, the same one he used for hypnotizing Ninjin, Piiman and Tamanegi not too long ago. "Look closely at this ring."

Vergil sighed and shook his head; there was no way they would fall for that. What he didn't count on though, was Luffy actually looking at the ring.

"What?" Luffy asked.

"It's a weapon! Duck!" Usopp warned him.

"With 'One! Two! Jango' you'll fall asleep." Jango stated.

"Hide! It's coming!" Usopp said as he jumped back and covered his head.

"One! Two! Jango!" Jango exclaimed and Luffy started snoring.

Vergil's eyes widened as Luffy began falling down. The straw hat wearing teen wasn't the only one asleep; Jango was sleeping as well, leaning against Kuro.

"Hey wake up Jango! You still haven't fixed your old problem!" Kuro scolded the pirate who was still sleeping.

Something crashed in front of them and finally woke Jango up.

"He crashed headfirst. I didn't have the intention to kill you, but falling from that height nothing could save you," Jango stated but as the smoke cleared he saw that Luffy was snoring a couple of centimeters above the ground while Vergil held him by the rim of his shirt. The devil was pissed, that much was clear to Jango.

_'Shit! Those guys… They'll get killed by them,_' Usopp realized.

"Usopp!" Vergil yelled getting Usopp's attention. "Try to warn the villagers!"

"Should I finish that one off too? He's going to tell the villagers," Jango clearly wasn't aware of everything going on in this village.

"There's no need for that. No matter how much he rattles or tries to warn them no one will believe him," Kuro stated calmly.

Vergil greeted his teeth, he overlooked that factor. It was the hard truth, being a liar and everything everyone would rather believe the picture-perfect butler than a resident liar.

"We'll settle for tomorrow morning, Jango. We'll attack the village at the dawn. Don't pay too much attention to the villagers, Jango. Make it look like an accident when you kill lady Kaya!" Kuro added rubbing the facts directly at Usopp's face.

"Tomorrow?" Usopp repeated, now even more frightened than before.

"You hear that Usopp-kun? Nothing you do will affect my plan," Kuro smirked, mocked the young teen above him, and made it blatantly clear that he was completely right.

"Damn it!" Usopp yelled as he ran off screaming.

"Aren't you getting ahead of yourself? I'm still here," Vergil reminded them.

Jango backed away a bit but Kuro simply smirked.

"You aren't going to attack us. It would leave your friend open for an attack," Kuro stated, looking into the devil's narrowed eyes.

The devil suddenly smirked, a bolt of lightning emerged from his fingers and collided with the ring Jango used to hypnotize Luffy. Electricity crackled around it and finally, it shattered.

_'He attacked?!'_ Kuro realized. "Retreat!" he hissed to Jango, he knew that he was weakened without his weapons. As Vergil swung his fist it was surrounded by lightning. Two pirates jumped back, avoiding the strike.

"Consider that a warning," Vergil stated.

Kuro smirked and began walking away. "A devil, eh? Regardless, with that strength, you aren't an obstacle."

Vergil glanced at Luffy and then up to where Usopp was. "And why should I let you leave?"

Kuro and Jango froze at that.

"The way I see it killing you here would save a lot of time," Vergil unsheathed his machete and pointed it at the duo.

Kuro chuckled and began walking away again. "if you wanted to kill us you wouldn't have announced your plan, quit bluffing," he was fairly confident in his words.

Vergil smirked at that. "I just don't attack from behind without a good reason," in a simple burst of lightning he stopped a few meters away from Kuro.

Kuro halted once again and held his hand out to Jango. "A weapon," he requested and it was obvious he wasn't picky. Ring Jango used to hypnotize would do well enough.

"You better know how to use it," Vergil said as he leaned forward a bit. Before he could register just how fast Kuro was the man was right next to Luffy and he was holding the blade to Luffy's throat.

"Should we test that?" Kuro smirked at the rage evidently showing on Vergil's face. "It's clear you care more about this kid than that village, let's make a deal. You let us leave and I won't harm him," he offered.

"Fine," Vergil accepted without skipping a beat. He watched as Kuro slowly got up. "Know this though, you're dead if you even touch him," his voice was ice cold, chilling and full of killer intent. Zapping to Luffy's side would be too risky and he wasn't risking Luffy's life.

Kuro smirked and calmly walked away. "Keeping your word? So unlike devils," he commented as passed by Vergil.

_**~X~**_

While Usopp kept trying to persuade the villagers Zoro, Nami and the three kids came to the place Usopp, Luffy, and Vergil were supposed to be at according to the kids.

"This is it," Ninjin announced as they halted to a stop.

"This is where captain comes to heal his wounded heart," Piiman revealed to them.

"It really feels good being here too," Tamanegi added.

Three boys looked around for anything strange but couldn't notice anything and they couldn't find Luffy or Vergil either.

"The Straw Hat big brother and scary big brother aren't here," Piiman told Zoro and Nami.

Zoro raised an eyebrow while Nami looked over the edge, she pushed a rock away and it fell down, unknowingly it hit a certain someone.

"This place is pretty steep," she said.

"Nami, be careful," Zoro warned her.

"Hey, Nami! I should have known that rock was your doing!" they heard a familiar voice of their first mate. Vergil glared at them from below.

"Vergil!" Nami exclaimed surprised to see him all the way down there. Then she noticed Luffy lying down next to the devil. "They are both down there!" she informed Zoro and three boys.

"What are you two doing there?!" Zoro snapped at them.

"It's them!" Piiman exclaimed.

"Luffy's sleeping, get down here and I'll explain," Vergil called them.

They went down, although by a much more walkable route than Vergil and Luffy did.

"Why are you two here?" Nami asked, a bit annoyed to see their captain just sleeping there.

"Long story short, we are relaxing," Vergil replied making the other five fall down to the ground.

Nami stood up and went to deck Vergil, only for the devil to lean back and fall to the ground before her fist could make contact with his head. "You like that, don't you?" she scoffed, feeling like there was no longer a point in trying to hit Vergil if four times out of five he just dodged.

"I love it," he said with a completely straight face. "All right Luffy. Wake up," Vergil said but when the rubber captain did nothing Vergil sighed. "What am I going to do with all that meat I'm going to get tonight…?" he seemed to be talking to himself, but Luffy instantly sat up.

"Meat?! Let's eat it!" and the captain decided.

Vergil smirked at that. "Fine, I'll go and catch something to eat when this is all over," he promised the meat to the grinning captain.

"So? What happened?" Zoro cut to the point.

"Caretaker wants to kill that lady," Luffy explained as briefly as possible.

"The man that provoked Usopp is actually a pirate and he plans to kill that girl he is working for. And his crew will attack the village to make it look like an accident," Vergil expanded on the explanation, though not by too much. He merely filled the required gaps for the story to be mostly complete.

"What? Kaya-san will be killed?!" three boys yelled in disbelief. "The village will be attacked?! Is that true?!"

"Yup, there's no mistake about it. That's what they said," Luffy confirmed it.

Boys looked scared out of their minds at the spoken words.

"Anyway, how did you end up falling asleep?" Zoro asked.

"He got hypnotized by some weird bastard," Vergil replied, feeling somewhat ashamed of not realizing that Luffy would fall for that.

"About that! I thought I was still on the cliff all along!" Luffy replied as Vergil stood up.

Nami's eyes widened at that. "Wait, was he walking backward?" she asked and Vergil nodded. "We met him then."

"Klahadore really is a bad guy!" Ninjin realized.

"No wonder he seemed so strange!" Piiman added.

"That must be why captain ran to the village like that!" Tamanegi exclaimed.

"Aren't you guys fortunate to hear about this beforehand. Now we can escape before they attack. They got careless," Nami stated slightly bitterly.

Vergil glanced at her. '_Was there a bit of jealousy in her voice right there?'_ While to the most people her voice seemed normal her comment about being fortunate to him indicated a bit of jealousy because of that, well he knew that some devil was still holding her bound.

"That's right! We should make a run for it!" Ninjin exclaimed.

"Yeah, we should take everything important with us!" Tamanegi added.

"Anyway we have to hurry!" they all shouted and ran off.

Nami watched them leave and then turned to the remaining trio.

"That's right we have to hurry too!" Luffy realized, but for a few different reasons.

"What? Why?" Zoro asked not really understanding why they would have to run; after all, they could take on a few pirates.

"If we don't go and get supplies the shop owner will leave and we won't get any meat! Vergil can hunt for it, but this is easier!" Luffy told them.

"I'm honestly touched," Vergil admitted, feeling surprisingly warm around his heart.

"This is not time to think about that," Zoro scolded him as he lightly hit him on the back of his head with the sheathed sword.

"Especially given the circumstances," Vergil agreed, time for chit-chat was over now that the kids were gone.

_**~X~**_

Seeing as Usopp couldn't make the villagers believe him he turned to someone that was even less likely to believe him… Kaya. And as he told her what happened that became even more apparent.

"I heard him talking to an old crewmate of his about killing you!" Usopp said, Kaya looked down a bit as if not being able to believe that someone she cared about would stoop so low… "He's a cold-blooded killer! Hurry and escape!" Usopp yelled.

_**~X~**_

Vergil sighed when he finally retold the crew what happened after Luffy fell asleep.

Nami massaged her forehead. "So it's no good, villagers won't trust him," she looked troubled, conflicted at what to do now.

"And he's going to figure it out the moment he starts warning them. Luffy, what do you want to do?" Vergil turned to his captain.

For once the straw hat wearing pirate was dead serious. "We wait for Usopp," Luffy replied, his voice had a sense of finality in it.

The devil fully understood what Luffy had in mind with that, if Usopp decided not to fight then they would have to adjust to that. "Even if it means turning a blind eye on those villagers?" Vergil challenged him.

"We're pirates, not heroes," Zoro reminded him; it honestly surprised him that he had to do it since Vergil was a devil and all that. "You should understand that, right?"

Vergil's eyes met with Zoro's, it was clear what he was insinuating. "I do, I guess I got a bit soft."

"I won't let Usopp die," Luffy vanquished any kind of doubt in the minds of his Nakama with that one short sentence. It wasn't for the village, it wasn't for the people, but there was one person Luffy wanted to keep safe and that decided their course of action.

_**~X~**_

Usopp was panicking, Kaya didn't trust him and now Merry, with a gun in his hand, showed up. Now he could see only one way out, so he grabbed the girl from behind.

"Anyway just trust me!" Usopp told her as he jumped down. "You have to leave the village before that caretaker returns!" he told her, he grabbed onto the branch to ease his fall as he landed on his feet with Kaya in his arms.

As he helped Kaya up three bodyguards reached them. Quickly Usopp pulled out his slingshot jumped to the side to make sure Kaya wouldn't get hit by the potential shots from the bodyguards and fired his pachinko.

Kaya looked as Usopp shot three times taking the bodyguards down. This was the same man that cheered her up, the same man she respected and cared about, the same man she thought she could trust. Yet here he was shooting his pachinko at her bodyguards. "Please stop," she muttered as Usopp ran up to her and grabbed her hand in an attempt to get her to leave with him.

"Come on we have to go!" he urged her. When he realized that she wasn't going along with him he turned to try and persuade her once again. "Once tomorrow comes you'll believe me! For now, let's just go!" he exclaimed, desperate to get her to trust him, desperate to save her, he couldn't do a thing to help his mother, but now he could do something, he could save Kaya and no matter what he was going to do it. "Please just listen to me," he pleaded, begged whatever higher being there was to just this once make her come with him.

Kaya slapped him. His eyes widened as Kaya turned away from him, tears fell down her cheeks. "Despicable!" she uttered, crashing down his hopes that she would listen.

Merry finally caught up to them as Usopp took a step back. "Leave lady Kaya alone!" he yelled and pointed his gun at Usopp once again, Usopp turned to run and Merry was about to fire.

"Don't!" Kaya shouted and moved in front of Usopp.

Merry panicked and turned the gun to the side but the bullet went past Kaya and hit Usopp's arm, Kaya gasped as Usopp fell on the ground.

He tried to stand up but once he leaned onto his wounded arm he let out a cry of pain, still, he stood up and ran off.

_**~X~**_

The ship of the pirates that were supposed to attack was already docked near the island.

"Men, it's good to see you all again. It's been three years now," Kuro stated. "Before my plan comes into action I've prepared a fitting role for all of you. Tomorrow morning you will all obliterate the village!" he told them, the pirates cheered at the thought of such destruction.

Golden eyes shone in the darkness of the storage room, it could sense him, the wretched devil that destroyed its trap.

* * *

_**Well, that's the first chapter of Syrup Village, not much of a change, just a bit of dialogue here and there. Next chapter will be different from the previous version, but as this is a set up chapter I think it's fine if it stays mostly the same.**_

* * *

_**Answers on reviews:**_

_**SubZPhantomX – Thank you and don't worry-**_

_ **V: You got distracted again, huh?**_

_ **Vergil… **_

_ **V: I'm off again.**_

_ **I guess Vergil is a bit more reactionary this time around and certainly had more killing intent if it means protecting the crew. **_

_**Sagicknight – Thank you, glad you think that.**_

_**Guest – I intend to keep the updates just as frequent. Thank you for review.**_

_**scarlet rose white – Thanks. I certainly hope it does, though I can't say it'll stick with all the chapters, this one for example was mostly the same. So other than just brushing things up a bit I don't think I improved it too much. As for Nami and Vergil, well, I guess there will be a few nice moments soon enough.**_

_**Guest – Thank you.**_

_**KMLDN – Thank you, I didn't think anyone would say the story is addicting and to be honest it feels good to see that. Updates are on Monday and Friday (CEST) maybe a few hours earlier but overall twice a week. I feel like that's better than going in with daily updates and then being away for a few months. I love the profile picture by the way. Looks really nice.**_


	6. Resolve of liars

_**Chapter 6 – Resolve of liars**_

* * *

The pain was unbearable; it hurt so much he thought his heart would shatter. How it didn't break already was beyond him.

It wasn't the bullet wound, no, that was hardly a scratch compared to the pain he felt at the thought of Kaya's face. It was so much different when he was lying, so happy and trusting. She knew he was lying, yet she always enjoyed herself.

And the villagers, the people that watched him grow up. The people he cared about so much had never been so angry when he told a lie. They chased and yelled, but they were just as serious about their threats as he was about his lies.

It hurt. The truth hurt him.

If only villagers believed him. If only Kaya believed him, then Kuro would be exposed for who he was. The truth would come out and the truth would hurt him as well.

For a moment he thought the truth was bad, that it only hurt. But that couldn't be, the truth would save those he cared about. If only they believed him. Usopp didn't even realize he was crying until he heard Ninjin, Piiman, and Tamanegi calling him.

Quickly, he wiped away his tears and covered his wound. "Oh, it's you guys!" he greeted back suddenly making a 180 turn from sad and depressed to happy. Maybe they didn't know yet.

"Captain! We heard everything!" Ninjin said as Usopp walked up to them.

"We should hurry and warn everyone in the village!" Tamanegi added.

"Warn everyone," Usopp muttered as his eyes widened. No. The truth, in the end, only hurt.

Three boys along with Luffy just kept looking at Usopp who suddenly began laughing. "It was all a lie, like usually! I was pissed at that caretaker so I went around saying that he is a pirate!" for once his lying was believable. For once even the three kids he was the closest with couldn't see through his lies.

"Ah, I get it!" Ninjin exclaimed.

"Straw Hat big brother and scary big brother got fooled by captain!" Tamanegi rejoiced, happy that there was no threat at all.

Suddenly they began walking away.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Usopp asked them, already the sinking feeling began digging its claws into his heart.

"I'm starting to lose respect for you, captain," Ninjin stated.

"Me too," Piiman added.

"And me. That caretaker is a bad guy but to lie to hurt someone, we never thought you'd do that captain. We are disappointed in you," Tamanegi finished.

"Let's go home," Piiman told them.

"Yeah, it's time for dinner," Ninjin added as they left.

It was as if the last remaining doubts multiplied. The truth hurt him before, but this lie… it hurt more than anything he experienced ever since his mom died. He felt alone again after such a long time.

_**~X~**_

The night had fallen as the Straw Hats and Usopp got to the coast. Nami was tending to Usopp's wound and the slingshot user repeatedly said 'Ouch' as she disinfected it.

"Well this should do it," she said as she observed the now bandaged wound.

"Why did you say all that?" Luffy asked.

"Because I'm a liar. No one would believe me in the first place. I was so naïve," Usopp admitted, he was looking down at the ground, he knew the situation was bad, to say the least. He was alone, against a pirate crew.

"Even if you are naïve the truth is still the truth," Zoro stated.

"I'm somewhat relieved that the villagers didn't believe you," Vergil spoke up, his words came off as cold, though frankly, it wasn't his intention. The moment he realized how it sounded he raised his palm. Though Usopp was already pissed at the way he spoke.

"What did you say? Do you want them to get killed?!" Usopp snapped at him angrily.

"Sorry, wrong word choice. It's just that panicking civilians are the last thing you need in a battle," Vergil explained his reasoning.

Usopp evidently calmed down as the anger on his face got replaced by determination. "Everyone thinks it's all a lie and that tomorrow will be just another day. And it will I will stop those pirates and make it just a lie!" Usopp declared with as much confidence as he could, but if he was being completely honest with himself, that confidence was far from high. "That's my duty as a liar!"

His words made Vergil grin as he knew what those words would mean to Luffy.

"Even though they shot me. Chased after me. This is still my village. I love this village. I want to protect everyone!" Usopp declared, he was crying but his resolve was made from the hardest steel.

"Never thought you were that kind of guy," Zoro said as he held his sword. "Ditching your friends so that you can face the enemy on your own."

"Let me get this straight, all the pirates' treasure will be mine," Nami added.

"Leave it to Nami to make this seem so selfish," Vergil said grinning at Nami but then turned to Usopp. "I don't like letting innocent people die so I'll help."

"All right! We'll land you a hand," Luffy finished, he had decided long ago that he wouldn't let Usopp die and this just solidified his opinion on the long-nosed teen.

Usopp looked at them completely surprised at their declarations.

"You guys are willing to fight beside me. Why?" he couldn't help but ask. Even if they said it he could hardly believe it. Considering they met not even a day ago it was fairly unbelievable that they would just help him defend his village.

"Because they have more people," Luffy said.

"You can always reconsider if you are scared," Zoro told him.

"I'm scared? It doesn't matter how many of them are there it's fine by me! Because I'm the brave warrior of the sea! Captain Usopp!" Usopp declared but his body seemed to betray him as his legs trembled, a lot. "Damn! Damn!" he yelled as he tried to stop his trembling legs. "They are Klahadore's pirate crew! This isn't a small matter! So what if I'm scared?! I'm not accepting pity! Go home! Go home!" he snapped at them.

Vergil sweatdropped at the last part. "Uh, I'm not sure going home is as easy as you make it sound," he replied.

Zoro lightly elbowed him in the ribs. "Really, Vergil?" he then turned to Usopp. "We are not laughing!" he told him without leaving any space for doubt on either side. "We are helping you because we admire your courage!"

"Who would risk their lives over sympathy?!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Damn. you guys," Usopp said as he began crying, moved by their words.

The group of five walked up the slope; Usopp was leading them and explaining the situation further. "Listen, tomorrow they plan on attacking the village from this very coast. However, this is the only route that leads to the village. The rest are cliffs, there's no other way to go. In other words, if we hold firm from this slope the village won't be attacked," Usopp explained and Vergil actually went down the slope.

"Where are you going?" Nami asked as she saw him going down.

"Just to check something," he replied.

"I see," Luffy said to Usopp. "That sounds simple."

"Talking's easy, but we need true strength for the battle. What are you guys capable of?" he asked them.

"Slicing," Zoro replied right away.

"Stretching!" Luffy stated as he held his fist in front of him.

"Thieving," Nami said.

"Electrifying!" Vergil exclaimed from down the slope as he went back to them.

"I'll be hiding!" Usopp decided.

"You will be fighting!" all four of them yelled at him.

"Just joking, I'll back you guys up!" he told them.

"Anyway Usopp, we need a better strategy because staying firm on this one ain't going to cut it," Vergil stated.

"Huh? What are you saying?" Usopp asked him confused as to why it wouldn't work.

"Our boats aren't here," Vergil informed them while pointing back at the coast.

Nami's eyes widened as she realized what he was getting at. "We came to the village from another slope!"

"Bingo. There is one more slope like this, right?" Vergil asked.

Usopp gulped and nodded. "I almost messed up," he muttered, his hopes quickly fading.

"It doesn't matter as long as the mistake can be corrected in time. We have five people on our side and two places to cover. So we'll split into two teams," Vergil decided, his experience kicking in and a plan for fighting was starting to form quite quickly.

"They were talking on this side of the island so they'll probably attack from this coast, right?" Usopp asked now feeling kind of unsure about his assumptions.

"Not necessarily," Vergil raised his palm to about his chest level and created a circle with darkness. It hovered above his palm for everyone to see. "Let's say this is an island-"

"Wait! How did you do that?!" Usopp shrieked, he had never seen anything like what Vergil just did.

Vergil blinked at that. "I'm a devil," honestly he figured Usopp knew by now.

Usopp's eyes widened and he quickly backed away. "A devil? L-L-Like a demon?" Usopp stuttered.

"Correct," Vergil confirmed.

"S-Stay away!" the crew remained silent as Usopp comically tried to make a cross with his arms. "Silver, I need some silver," he murmured to himself, at least that's what he thought.

Nami and Zoro sweatdropped. Vergil and Luffy actually began chuckling and laughing respectively.

Usopp then pointed his finger at Vergil. "You shouldn't be able to walk around during the day! Explain that!"

Vergil's chuckle turned into full-blown laughter. "I'm a devil, not a vampire," he tried to stop laughing but the idea was just too silly plus he wasn't sure how else to process the things Usopp said.

"How can you guys even sail with a demon?! They are evil and suck your soul out and kill you in your sleep and… and…" he was clearly panicking. "And impale you on their horns… you don't have horns…"

"Obviously," the devil in question finally managed to rein in his laughter, though a few chuckles still came out.

"He's not," Nami surprisingly joined in.

Usopp felt a bit calmer. "Demon? Were you guys joking?"

"I meant evil. Look at him; he wouldn't be risking his life if he was evil. Violent perhaps, but Vergil's not evil," Nami brought those facts to Usopp's attention; sure she could understand that Usopp was afraid, she too was afraid of Vergil when she first met him. But what Usopp just said was ridiculous. Furthermore, she came to a startling realization about Vergil, he did everything he could to keep his allies safe.

"Nami's right," Zoro added, though he, just like Vergil, was surprised by Nami's statement.

"You promise?" Usopp half pleaded half asked.

"Vergil isn't going to hurt anyone he doesn't have to," Luffy said firmly, though he was grinning slightly. "Usopp's funny, right Vergil?"

Hearing his other two Nakama speak up for him was surprising. Especially in Nami's case. But it made him feel the warmth around his heart. He nodded at Luffy and then turned back to Usopp. "Can we start again?"

Usopp gulped but nodded, mostly out of fear.

With that reassurance, Vergil formed an X on one side of the island, and then on the other, he formed a square. "Kuro was looking at the pirate ship from this coast," he said, pointing at the X, to put an emphasis on it he even made it a bit bigger for a few moments.

"So you think he won't attack from this side because of that?" Zoro asked.

Vergil nodded. "It's what we expect in the end. I think he'll split the crew. Have the main force attack from this side," he pointed at the square and then back to the X. "And leave a handful of pirates to attack the village.

"Why? Isn't it better to just focus on one side and overwhelm an enemy?" Nami inquired.

"If you could have the element of surprise would you take it?" Vergil replied with a question of his own.

Nami's eyes widened as the realization hit her. "Of course. While we're fighting one group the other can sneak up from behind or even attack the village,"

Vergil nodded at that. "That's the gist of it. Now, best-case scenario, they attack only one side, say the northern side," he made the square pop up for a few short moments.

"They have one ship, right? It's going to be difficult to travel in two groups," Zoro added in his two cents.

Nami rubbed her chin as she thought it over. "Most crews don't have more than one ship, sure there are exceptions, but I doubt they are that big of a crew," she pretty much agreed with Zoro.

"Splitting up is still the safest option for us, though," Vergil sighed, regardless of attack from one or both sides it was risky to leave one without any form of defense. "Kuro looked at the pirate ship from this coast, but if he attacks from this side it will be too predictable since we saw him. Then again, he can go for the most predictable choice and attack from this side assuming that we are waiting for him on the other coast. We should also take the strategist into the account, we aren't sure that it's Kuro that's pulling the strings behind the direct actions of the crew," Vergil analyzed.

"Vergil you are making my head hurt," Luffy complained.

Vergil glanced at the heating head of his captain; the boy was getting a headache from actually using his brain a bit quicker than he usually did. "Sorry, sorry, anyway let's split up. I think it's safer to keep Luffy and Zoro on the other side. If they attack over there they won't know what hit them. I'll stay here just in case; I can fight at most of the ranges. Any complaints about that?"

Zoro and Luffy shrugged before glancing at one another.

"We're fine with that," Zoro replied, it was a plan.

"Our treasure is at the other coast so I'm going with the two of you," Nami stated.

"And the brave warrior of the sea, Usopp will back you up!" Usopp announced bravely to the human part of the crew. There was no way he was staying alone with Vergil, no matter what his crew was saying.

"What if they attack your side?" Zoro asked.

Vergil grinned and formed two balls, one made out of lightning and one made out of the darkness. "if they attack my side I'll simply shoot lightning up to the sky. If only a few come, I'll shoot darkness one. Make sure you look at the sky for it," Vergil told them and the remembered his little encounter with Kuro. "Also, keep in mind Kuro is really fast. Nearly as fast as I am," the last part was mostly directed at Luffy, since the Captain was the only one aware of Vergil's speed.

The rest of the crew nodded. The plan was set in motion.

_**~X~**_

It was about time for the crew to leave Vergil on their current location and head to the north slope.

Luffy was strangely serious as he watched Vergil lean against the rocks.

Vergil noticing his captain's look flashed him a reassuring grin and briefly formed a small thumb-up with darkness. It was his usual way of saying everything was fine and Luffy knew it. With time the others would learn it too.

Luffy chuckled, grinning from ear to ear. Reassurance worked.

"All right! We need to keep my treasure and village safe!" Nami got up to her feet ready to leave, casually she walked over to Vergil and patted him on the shoulder. "Give them hell if they come here and don't worry, just give us a signal and the others will come running," she assured him.

"How generous of you," Vergil smirked and jokingly crossed his arms over his chest.

Nami grinned slyly. "I'm not leaving my treasure for you, don't worry."

Vergil motioned towards the forest with his head. "Get going you money-loving thief," he was in a good mood if the light-hearted tone of his voice was anything to go by.

"Nami, let's go," Zoro called out to her. Though he quickly smirked. "Unless you'd like to stay?"

Nami rolled her eyes at that. "Really funny."

"Zoro, wait," Vergil suddenly pushed himself away from the rocks and walked over to Zoro.

The green-haired swordsman looked puzzled at the sudden request but waited to see what Vergil wanted to say.

"Look," Vergil began when he got close enough. "Luffy isn't good with tricks, he'll fall for hypnosis easily," he subtly motioned towards Luffy.

Zoro looked back from the corner of his eye at the captain. "You're right," he agreed.

"He is strong, but you never know what order hypnotist could give," Vergil sighed and looked directly into Zoro's eyes. "Watch over him."

Zoro's eyes widened slightly, it was the first time he saw Vergil actually act worried. With the initial shock gone he nodded. "I will, don't worry about it."

Vergil smiled. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it, he's our captain."

_**~X~**_

As he four waited at the top of the slope the Sun began slowly rising. It was time to see if they would defend the village, or if they left their first mate to fight the pirate crew on his own.

Luffy was looking at the sky, his back was turned to the slope.

"Worried about Vergil?" Nami asked him, he had been looking for Vergil's signal for half an hour now, just in case pirates attacked before.

Luffy shook his head. "No, Vergil's strong," he wasn't worried, but it was obvious he wanted to get going the moment he saw the signal.

Nami couldn't put her finger on it, why Luffy was like this. And then it dawned on her. "You're worried he'll get sick, or whatever that was, again, right?"

Her question got Zoro and Usopp's attention too.

Luffy nodded.

"How does that happen? There weren't any signs from what I could tell?" Zoro also remembered it happened out of blue, one moment Vergil was complaining about Nami's demand, and the next one he was on his knees. He would have fallen if Luffy didn't catch him.

"We don't know. It just happens," Luffy replied.

His reply made Nami worry just a bit, if it was completely random then there was no telling when it could happen. So, under those circumstances, leaving Vergil on his own for extended periods of time was risky. "That's why you were so serious before we left, right?"

Luffy simply nodded, still looking at the sky.

Nami sighed, she looked back towards their boats and ran her fingers through her hair out of frustration. "I'll go back to him, but keep an eye on my treasure," she decided, it was the only logical thing to do after all.

Luffy's head immediately snapped to the side so he could look at her. "Really? You'd do that?!" the happiness and even relief were so obvious Nami couldn't refuse him now even if she was second-guessing herself, which she wasn't.

"I didn't expect that," Zoro admitted and was rewarded with a punch to the face.

Nami huffed and placed her hands on her hips. "I'm not a fighter so I can't really help you. But if it'll reassure you, I can keep an eye on Vergil."

"Shishishishi! Thanks!" Luffy was positively happy and with the captain once again focused on the incoming threat, Nami began running back to where Vergil was.

_**~X~**_

Vergil, instead of standing at the top of the slope, actually went down to the shore. His plan was simple. If the ship appeared on his side he'd just sink it straight away. The battle ends and whatever pirates manage to make it out alive he'd just take them down.

A swift solution without any risk.

Although, as he watched the Sun appearing in the distance he sighed, there was no ship anywhere on his side. They chose the other side and he wouldn't be able to make it in time to just blast them into smithereens. Well, with Luffy and Zoro it would be a bit longer but essentially risk-free fight.

He turned around, about to make his way to the other slope when he felt them. Three demons going through the water at a moderate pace. Vergil cracked his knuckles and smirked. "Come here," electricity surrounded him and alerted the demons. He couldn't have them running off in any other direction now, could he?

_**~X~**_

A bit after Vergil felt the demons on his side the Black Cat Pirates stepped out on the shore unaware of the trio that was waiting for them.

Usopp gulped as he saw the ship reach the shore, Luffy and Zoro, on the other hand, looked indifferent.

"Captain! There are people on top of the slope!" one of the pirates pointed at them.

"I am Captain Usopp! I have been waiting for you for quite some time! I am fully prepared to fight!" Usopp exclaimed as he stood on Luffy's left, though a tiny step behind the two pirates.

"It's those guys," Jango recognized the trio the moment he set his foot on the island and actually looked forward.

"If you don't leave now my 100 million men will trample you to the ground!" Usopp tried to lie his way out of the fight and make the pirates leave.

"You know that's not going to work, right?" Zoro couldn't help but ask.

"100 million men?! Amazing!" both Luffy and Jango actually fell for it.

Unfortunately for Usopp, other pirates didn't and they quickly reassured Jango that he was lying.

"Tch, how dare you try to trick me like that?" Jango pulled out his ring and began swinging it from side to side.

"Hypnosis, huh? Both of you close your eyes," Zoro instructed the two and then, as Jango began speaking he made sure to, just in case, push Luffy's head down.

Once he looked at Jango again he sweatdropped. The hypnotist actually got hypnotized and he was the only one it worked on.

"That won't work on us!" Zoro informed him and reached down for his katana.

Jango frowned, well, if things weren't working the quick way then they'd just beat their way through. "Men attack the village! Don't waste time with them!" he ordered and his men followed it. Although they could only get so far before Luffy and Zoro kicked their asses back to the shore.

One thing was obvious, Black Cat pirates were no match for the two, hell they were no match for one of them alone.

A few pirates managed to get back up but they were easily taken out by a precise pachinko to the forehead each.

"The village will have another peaceful day! This slope! I cannot let anyone of you get pass this slope!" Usopp announced. He had his priorities and he couldn't let Luffy and Zoro fight on their own. Though it was more than appealing to do so.

Luffy and Zoro smiled back at him approvingly.

"You imbeciles! Are you forgetting about Kuro's plan?! If anything goes wrong we are all dead! Hurry up and go to the village!" Jango yelled at them.

"Let's hurry!" one of the pirates yelled, this time fear was just as much of a motivator as the desire to wreck the village.

Still, afraid of not, they were easily knocked back. They didn't stand a chance.

"The sky's been bright for quite some time now," Jango said as he looked at the sky. "Captain Kuro is a very impatient man," he felt a shiver run down his spine. "Everyone! Are you going to tell me that you'll allow some brats to defeat you?" Jango challenged his subordinates.

The pirates slowly went back to their knees.

"Listen, we don't have time to fool around," Jango stated as he pulled out his hypnotizing rings. "He is strong so we'll have to be stronger. Now stare at this ring. With 'One! Two! Jango!' You'll become stronger," Jango began. "Your injuries will heal and you'll become very very very very strong."

"Again? Luffy, keep your head down, it's that trick," Zoro informed him, but Luffy was already looking back to where Vergil was.

"Darkness ball, there are enemies there as well," he pointed out and Zoro glanced over as well.

Well, Vergil could deal with it on his own. He was sure of it.

"You'll become stronger. Much stronger," Jango continued, his crew was focusing on the swaying ring. "One… Two… Jango!" the pirates roared as hypnosis took effect.

"It didn't work, right?" Usopp asked, hoping he was right.

One of the pirates let out an animalistic sound as he punched the cliff and shattered a large chunk of it.

His comrades kept chorusing.

"Th-the cliff's completely destroyed! What power," even Zoro couldn't hide he was impressed by what Jango's hypnosis did. Especially since they were fairly weak prior to it.

Usopp's jaw dropped and he paled, his legs trembled now more than ever. "That's just one of them and there are so many."

"Go! Break the necks of anyone that tries to stop you!" Jango told them.

Pirates yelled as they charged at the two. They had wild looks on their faces. Still, one **Gomu Gomu no Gatling **later and they were back where they started. At the bottom of the slope.

"Captain Kuro made a big miscalculation! They are not just ordinary brats! That one devil is enough to take most of the crew out by himself!" Jango realized. '_Shit… Do I really need to set it free?_' he looked back at the ship.

All the yelling and fighting awoke something within the ship. Awoken and furious a demon burst out of its confines much to Jango's dismay.

Usopp's eyes widened as he saw it. It was probably about six meters tall monstrosity. It didn't have horns, but it had very, very long, probably about nine meters long, skinny arms. The fact that those arms were acting more like tentacles didn't help. By some logic, Usopp couldn't understand the arms were moving around and those clawed hands didn't make it look any friendlier. Not that beak-like jaws filled with long sharp teeth were doing a much better job. Or clearly disproportional when compared to arms body that looked really, really muscular, with legs that could probably let the demon jump really high up. And the completely yellow, several shades darker than Vergil's eyes were pretty much the cherry on a top.

The sniper gulped, pretty much ready to throw a towel. There wasn't much that could make the entire situation worse.

On the second thought, the glass-shattering screech made things even worse.

Zoro seemed fairly impressed if the subtle smirk on his face was anything to go by. At least a demon would provide them with some challenge. Well, if Vergil was anything to go by.

Luffy blinked a few times. "That's a big demon!" he commented.

"What s-should we do?" Usopp's legs were shaking uncontrollably to the point where he was having trouble standing.

Luffy blinked a few times and turned to look at Usopp. "Make sure it doesn't spot you," he replied directly to Usopp. It was clear he and Zoro had the fighting experience but throwing Usopp, whose biggest fight up until now was punching Kuro, into a fight against a demon was too much to ask.

Usopp gulped and quicker than ever before found cover.

Jango overcame his initial shock at the uninvited appearance of the demon they kept in their storage room. "Those brats really screwed us over. Now the plan is completely messed up… If captain Kuro sees this we'll all be killed!" Jango said, fear was clearly present in his voice as he gritted his teeth.

"Hey, hey, Buchi!" they suddenly heard a voice from the ship. "Look at what happened! That demon escaped!" the same voice said.

"What happened here?" the supposed Buchi asked.

Jango turned to the ship seeming somewhat more relaxed. "We still have our trump card!" he realized. "Come out! Nyaban Brothers!" as he said that those words two figures jumped down and landed on the coast with cat-like agility.

The first one was Sham, a very skinny man with hunched back making him looked smaller than he actually was. His green, cat-like eyes, ever-present grin, and cat ears sticking from the top of his head made him look a lot like a cat.

The second one was Buchi, an overweight man wearing an outfit that made him similar to a black and white cat, although a cow could probably fit the description better.

"You called, Captain Jango?" Sham asked with a sinister grin on his face.

"You called…?" well Buchi sounded and sure seemed kind of stupid as he repeated the question.

"Sham and," Sham began.

"Buchi!" Buchi introduced himself.

"Together we are Nyaban Brothers!" they exclaimed together.

"Sham! Buchi! We have to get across this slope, but as you can see someone is standing in our way. Take care of them," Jango told them motioning toward Luffy and Zoro.

"Th-That's impossible for us!" Sham yelled out as he backed away in fear.

"They look very strong!" Buchi added.

"Furthermore, our job is only to look after the ship and the illusion making demon!" Sham further argued with the idea of facing opponents.

"Yes, yes. We are not supposed to battle!" Buchi agreed.

"What's with them? Aren't they supposed to be the trump cards?" Usopp wondered as he observed.

"Sham, just do it," Jango ordered. He knew what the tactic was but they didn't have time for this.

"W-What? Me?!" Sham was rather terrified at the idea.

"Just get going!" Jango snapped at them as the smaller man stepped back.

Sham was on the verge of tears. "Fine. I'm going!" he agreed tearfully. Sham began running toward Zoro completely open and screaming as loud as he could.

_**~X~**_

The white-haired male's plan to allow his power to spike up to attract the attention of three demons worked. They were exactly the same as the one on the other side, only much smaller and standing at about a meter and a half each with two-meter-long arms.

Vergil's jaw opened slightly. "Just how stupid do they have to be to send scorchers on their own without the leader?" he just had to ask. This was ridiculous, without the leader scorcher demon these ones would be barely more than a nuisance. Sure against humans they were dangerous but on their own, their power supply was ridiculously low.

The demons screeched at him, the sides of their beaks surrounded by tiny flames. Two of them charged right at him and he clicked his tongue as he was forced to duck underneath the swinging arm.

"I forgot how ridiculous that range is," he admitted and leaned forward, all he needed to do was get closer to the body and the fight would end. He unsheathed his machete and stabbed the scorcher in front of him. The wound wasn't too deep, but it was all he could casually do before he jumped to the side. Scorcher next to him began spinning around with flaming arms which were the reason why he had to jump away once again. The other scorcher, the one that didn't charge forward was focusing its power and forming a few fireballs.

Vergil casually shifted his weight from one foot to another to avoid the fireballs and prepared to charge in.

A high pitched scream made him spin around just in time to see fireballs heading towards Nami.

_'What the hell is she doing here?!'_ he nearly stopped completely due to utter confusion. Still, he managed to zap in front of her and block the fireballs with lightning. "Aren't you supposed to be on the other side?" he asked curiously.

Nami let out a sigh of relief. "Luffy was worried about you, you know, fainting if you can call it that," her reply made him sigh.

He felt happy, but at the same time he felt weak, he felt like he was being a burden because of something he couldn't control or change. "I see, thanks," it fueled his determination to just get this over with and get to the north slope. "I'll finish this so we can go back," he assured Nami and zapped in between two scorchers.

Lightning coursed through his blade making it hotter. He spun around and slashed the arms off the scorcher on his right before cutting the head off of the other's neck. To end the existence of the now armless scorcher he simply pointed an open palm at it over his shoulder and without even turning around he blasted it with a slightly more intense burst of lightning.

The last one fired a slightly bigger fireball at him but he slashed his machete through the air. "**Surge**," lightning infused slash went thought the fireball and traveled through the air before it cut the scorcher in half.

Nami sweatdropped at his little fight. "So, why exactly did I come here?"

Vergil smirked, sheathed his machete, and looked at her. "To give me teasing material? Miss I'm-not-leaving-my-treasure-for-you?"

Nami facepalmed, realizing that she indeed went against her own words and it was, obviously, all for nothing. "Let's just go back-"

"On our words all the time?" Vergil teased and for once allowed her to punch him on the shoulder. Though it was surprisingly light punch, almost joking. He looked at her face and realized she had an amused smile on her face.

"To where the others are," she corrected and dealt with it the only actual way she could. By simply ignoring any and all occasions in which Vergil would mention this.

_**~X~**_

Kuro was sitting in front of the mansion. "They're late. Those bastards. They should know what will happen if something was to disrupt my plan," he said as he stood up. "Still they take their sweet time. If they forget the consequences, I will kill them all!" Kuro announced, soon enough he was on the road going toward the coast.

He didn't go unspotted, Tamanegi saw him… "That's certainly Klahadore from the mansion. Why is he heading toward the coast so early in the morning?"

_**~X~**_

Nami and Vergil were running towards the other slope.

Vergil chuckled as he looked at Nami.

"What?" she glared, not sure why he had that reaction.

"You're running a lot lately," he pointed out and grinned when a vein popped up on Nami's forehead.

It was true, this was the second time she was running in less than fifteen minutes. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, what do you think we'll find when we get there?"

The grin vanished from Vergil's face. "Either nearly defeated, or defeated larger version of those demons," he replied, focusing on the location they were trying to reach. It was still alive, though clearly weakened. "It's still able to fight, but it's not going to last for too long. Good thing too, since those two might have trouble with illusions."

Nami's eyes widened for a moment. "Illusions?" she repeated.

The white-haired male nodded. "I'm not sure how long it will take, I haven't seen it up close, but it can do it. Luffy knows he needs to be relentless against demons so it hopefully won't get a chance."

"You taught him how to fight demons?" it was the only logical explanation. Demons weren't that common in East Blue, sure a few devils here and there but demons like the ones Vergil took down were a rare sight.

"He figured it out on his own. He might not be book smart and he is gullible but he is a genius for fighting," the certainty in Vergil's voice was almost overwhelming. It wasn't an opinion, the way he said it it sounded like an indisputable truth.

_**~X~**_

Luffy hadn't seen a demon in roughly a year, though the one back then was stronger.

Not knowing what to expect he stretched his arms and got onto the cliff to get closer to the demon's head. It swung its arm at him but it was easy to dodge, all he needed to do was jump out of the way. The other arm came at him as the demon attempted to punch him. Luffy snapped his hands back. "**Gomu Gomu no Bazooka**!" his palms collided with the fist and forced the demon to step back.

It retaliated by setting its left arm on fire and flailing it around. Luffy just narrowly dodged one of the swings that got close to him and ducked under another one. He jumped back onto the shore and began running towards the demon. "**Gomu Gomu no Whip**!" he kicked it in the legs and it lost its balance.

Luffy jumped up and held his feet together above the demon's guts. "**Gomu Gomu no Spear**!"

The demon screeched as the attack connected and Luffy landed on the beach. Slowly but surely the demon was getting up.

"**Gomu Gomu no Gatling**!" Luffy rapidly punched the demon's abdomen and it fell down once again. Though, for some reason, it was starting to get hot above him.

"Well, that settles it," that was Vergil's voice. He had kicked Zoro's enemies away and was now approaching him.

"Hey, Vergil! Don't interfere in other people's battles!" Zoro complained.

Luffy tilted his head, interfering unless it was serious, wasn't something Vergil did. And from Zoro's reaction, it was obvious it wasn't that serious.

"They are attacking us," Vergil reasoned and smirked at Luffy. "It's a demon," he motioned at the demon Luffy was fighting up until now.

"Yeah," well, it was fine, he turned his back to Vergil, ready to fight the demon again.

Luffy's eyes widened and he barely had enough time to move to the side. The machete still cut into his left shoulder and it was obvious his heart was the target. Vergil's words echoed in his mind, apple on the outside, meat on the inside.

"What was that for?! Vergil!" Zoro shouted and Luffy realized he was injured, he had the claw marks on his chest and he was missing two of his swords.

"It's not Vergil!" Luffy yelled and glared at the smirking white-haired male. "It's Vergil on the outside but meat on the inside!"

"Damned meat analogies," he heard Zoro huffing and he didn't understand why. Meat analogies were awesome.

"Oi! Meat-Vergil where's Vergil?!" Luffy demanded an answer from the fake.

"Strange kid," Meat-Vergil was still smirking, repeating the same things Vergil said when they were on that burning ship. It moved forward, way slower than Vergil normally did. Luffy was ready to punch it, he even pulled back his arm but it was just like Vergil. Completely same, same eye color, same scar, same everything.

So, his rubber brain shifted into thinking this was sparring, the same thing he and Vergil did over the last year. With that idea in his head, he slammed his fist straight into Meat-Vergil's face. It stopped but it stood its ground. Despite the force of the punch shattering the left half of its head and revealing the light that filled its shell.

Luffy's eyes widened at the sight in front of him. He never saw anything like it before and the sight of his Nakama being in that state, even if it wasn't actually Vergil made him drop his guard for a single moment. If it was actually Vergil, if they actually had a reason to fight, then it wouldn't be like this.

A familiar, but rarely heard battle cry resounded through the battlefield and the Meat-Vergil was slammed into the ground. The real one breathing like an enraged wild animal above it.

"How… How _**dare**_ you?!" was his voice different there for a moment? Luffy never heard him speak like that before. Vergil's right hand was engulfed in darkness and he shattered Meat-Vergil. Still breathing heavily, he looked up and for a moment Luffy thought his eyes were red.

He blinked and they were back to yellow. Mystery eyes, he guessed. Still, he grinned at Vergil, real one, there was no doubt about it. Because protecting someone was the only reason Vergil would ever strike from behind. "So, Meat-Vergil is gone?" he asked.

Vergil, who was back on his feet and now glaring at the demon actually choked on his own spit before bursting into laughter.

"Shishishishi!" Luffy joined him as the white-haired devil actually bent forward slightly unable to rein in his laugh.

"Meat-Vergil? That's," he chuckled again now that he said it. "That's brilliant. And yes, it's gone."

As the relaxed posture slowly vanished the rage returned and the killer intent was all the more obvious as Vergil glared at the demon in front of them. "And I'll laugh even harder once that one is gone," he growled angrier than Luffy had ever seen him, and if it was anyone else that was forming a spiraling mass of darkness Luffy would have stopped them. But it was Vergil and he trusted Vergil. "Enough with illusions. **Darkness Burst**."

It sounded like the glass was shattering when Vergil's darkness spread around and Luffy's eyes widened. They had a large fireball to deal with and it was heading straight towards them.

_**~X~**_

Vergil gritted his teeth, this demon was getting on his nerves way too quickly. And the pirates on its side were just casually waiting for the fireball to fall. They've done this before…

He didn't think he'd use it again so soon but it was obvious he needed to. "**Zone Of Protection**," he let the lightning surround his body forming an electric blue layer that completely covered him. Vergil jumped up and collided with the ball, he pressed his electricity covered hands and spread lightning around the flames. Lightning clashed with flames and made the massive ball of inferno halt for a few seconds. Vergil growled, using lightning to keep his body in the air, no matter what he couldn't let the blast collide with the ground.

Yet there was nothing he could do as the flames kept licking at his skin, this much concentrated electricity was quickly draining his reserves. He was losing this, no doubt about it. As lightning intensified only one outcome became possible, the two masses of energy would simply detonate causing higher damage, but in the smaller area.

Unfortunately, Vergil would be caught up in it, he would survive it, but the damage would be enough to hinder him down the line.

And then the explosion happened.

He heard Luffy shout his name as he landed on the ground breathing heavily. Once again **Zone of Protection** saved his skin, though it left him exhausted and the fall still hurt a bit. "I'm fine," he groaned and got back to his feet.

The demon was recovering as well, so he quickly gathered as much darkness as he could and sent it straight at the demon. It screeched and for the second time outside of the illusion, it hit the ground.

Vergil panted a bit, this one was way more durable than the three that were sent to the other side. Above-average scorcher, he sure as hell wondered how these lousy pirates got their hands on it.

Jango suddenly screamed, they all looked at whatever made the man scream and saw none other than Kuro. "Ah well, there is a good reason for this," Jango tried to find an excuse.

Kuro adjusted his glasses. "The sky has been bright for quite some time. Why haven't you acted according to plan?" Kuro demanded to know.

"This is bad," Usopp muttered as he and Nami looked at Kuro. He didn't need to fight like the rest of their crew and as such he was fresh for the battle against the slightly tired trio. Plus, he still had all the hard-hitting crewmembers in play.

"What the hell is going on?!" Kuro yelled.

"Your defeat," Vergil casually replied as he pointed his machete toward Kuro.

"My defeat you say? Just because you defeated them you have some guts to say that you can defeat me!" Kuro was pretty much enraged at Vergil's statement. Still, he regained his composure knowing that anger would only prove to be a liability. "I never would have thought that you guys would be tripped up by these three kids. The Black Cat pirate crew isn't what it used to be. Isn't that right, Jango?!" he shouted the last part sending shivers down Jango's spine.

"But," Jango wanted to make an excuse and then remembered a potentially good thing he could use. "Didn't you say that those pesky kids wouldn't be a problem?" he asked and then gave a small uncomfortable laugh.

"Yes, I did," Kuro confirmed as everyone looked at him. "So what? I knew they would come to try and stop us. But I didn't think that all you fools would be so useless against a single devil backed up by two kids!" he was angry and he was losing his patience.

Vergil glanced towards Usopp and Nami, they were on the cliff, safe at the moment. Usopp looked fine, he likely didn't have to fight head-on with Luffy and Zoro right there.

"We are use-useless," Jango hissed under his breath as he lowered his head a bit and gritted his teeth.

"Who's useless?" Sham demanded making Jango look at him and Buchi.

"How dare you say that, captain Kuro?!" Buchi shouted, the duo was sharpening their claws.

"It's true that you were strong once. But that's a three years old tale!" Sham stated, he felt like he and Buchi could take out the former pirate. "When you were fooling around in this village we weren't just sitting around doing nothing!"

"That's right! We pillaged countless villages and defeated many pirate crews!" Buchi added.

"What are you implying?" Kuro asked.

"After these three years, do you," Sham began.

"Have enough skill left to be able to win against us?" Buchi finished, even though injured they ran right past Vergil and lunged toward Kuro.

"Stop! Buchi! Sham!" Jango yelled.

It was too late; Kuro took hold of his bag as the two pirates closed in on him.

"You are not our captain any longer!" Sham yelled.

"Sorry, but we are going to attack you now!" Buchi added.

Kuro lifted his bag up and began moving his feet in a sort of a strange way.

Buchi and Sham cut the bag into small pieces but Kuro was nowhere to be seen. Their eyes widened as Kuro appeared a couple of meters behind Sham and Buchi. The sheathes began falling down revealing ten blades, one on each of Kuro's fingers.

"Who? Who do you want to kill?" Kuro asked, his tone was sinister and his expression unreadable.

Nyaban brothers gritted their teeth and attacked again.

"Turn," Sham began.

"Around!" Buchi finished.

"Idiots," Vergil muttered as Kuro once again did his trick and disappeared.

"He's gone!" Buchi realized, Kuro wasn't appearing and everything was silent.

"It appeared, **Stealth Foot**." Jango realized as he watched Kuro moving behind the two brothers a couple of times before finally deciding to attack.

Kuro's blades were now in front of Sham and Buchi and the duo didn't like that, who would anyway.

"You guys were right," Kuro stated, Buchi and Sham were whimpering and crying out of fear. "I'm not as fast as I used to be," he admitted, though with the way things were it sounded more like an insult to the two.

Pirates watched, shocked at how easily Nyaban brothers were defeated. "I've become more humble… after staying on this island for three years. I'll give you five minutes," Kuro stated and moved his blades away from the necks of two brothers. "If you don't finish them off in five minutes," he observed as they gasped for air. "Then all of you here," he began taking a couple of steps back and crossed his arms so that the blades could point toward the sky by the sides of his head. "I'll kill all of you here."

Jango gave away an uncomfortable chuckle. "Five minutes? Ah, we'll manage somehow with those five minutes!" He said trying his best to sound confident but he failed, miserably.

"Luffy, I'll take that demon down," Vergil said, the scorcher was back on its feet, though obviously too weak to make any illusions.

"Sure, I'll take care of that caretaker," he took a few steps forward and Vergil couldn't help but grin at the way Luffy said it.

Kuro realized Luffy was the one that intended to fight him and scoffed. Still, if the brat was so sure of himself. "Don't rush, Straw Hat, let your crew fight it out until five minutes pass, afterward I'll kill you," he offered and Luffy, much to his frustration just cracked his knuckles.

"Sure, my Nakama won't lose," he was completely certain everyone on his crew could handle the situation they were in.

Vergil smirked at that and zapped to where Zoro's two katana were. He took them from the ground and before Jango, or anyone else in that crew, besides Kuro, could notice he zapped to where Zoro was. "Here," he handed the two katana to Zoro.

Zoro smirked, though he was grateful to have all his katana back on him. "Heh, that lightning is handy."

"Sure," Vergil replied and jumped to the top of the cliff. The scorcher was one attack away from being done for.

Zoro turned his attention at Nyaban Brothers, the two were sharpening their claws, ready to once again attack.

"So what if you use three swords? It's useless!" Sham was overconfident now that they had one less pirate to worry about. What could another two possibly accomplish? Especially since they were humans.

"Useless!" Buchi shared a similar train of thoughts as they attacked.

"**Tora**," Zoro took a stance; the swords in his hands were now in a perfectly vertical position right behind his left shoulder. "You guys don't get it! **Gari**!" the swordsman cut the Nyaban brothers finally defeating them. "Using three swords and three sword techniques are totally different things," Zoro stated, two pirates fell on the ground right in front of shocked and amazed Jango.

"Incredible. With a single strike," Jango muttered. It was like the two were fighting a completely different opponent. "He defeated Nyaban brothers with a single strike?" he looked at Zoro who was standing up from his crouching stance.

On Vergil's side, he slammed his fists together and lightning emerged in between his fists. He moved his left fist above his right shoulder and the electricity engulfed his right arm. Lightning spread around Vergil. Violently buzzing around, crackling and spreading as the electric blue aura engulfed the devil. Once again he slammed his fists together and the power raging around him concentrated in the area between his fists.

Nami's eyes widened, she never saw Vergil like this, with this much power. Usopp's legs were trembling, this was his ally but seeing something like this for the first time was scaring him. Zoro on the other hand smirked, Vergil had shown a decent amount of power before, but this, this was worthy of being a first mate. And Luffy, of course, got excited as he and Kuro watched the lightning devil's final attack.

"**Piezoelectric Direct Discharge**!" a potent laser of pure electricity erupted and shot toward the demon, it incinerated the demon's head and upper body, proving that in the end, it was no match for a devil. Electricity died down and Vergil dropped to his knees, he did what he needed to do and now he could just sit down and observe the end of the battle.

The remains of scorcher's body fell forward and Jango just narrowly escaped being crushed. Though Nyaban brothers weren't that lucky.

"What was that power right now?" Usopp asked in disbelief.

"A devil, that was the power of a devil," Nami muttered, still surprised at the display of power.

"See? My Nakama won't lose," Luffy grinned.

* * *

_**All right! One more chapter and we'll be done with this arc. As you can see I went and skipped some parts of the fight. This was the first time I actually tackled things from Luffy's perspective and as far as fighting part went it was surprisingly compatible with my personal style of writing fight scenes. The way I see it Luffy will focus roughly 97% of his attention on his fight under normal circumstances. He'll notice his surrounding, but I feel like that's very limited and just enough to know he's not being attacked by someone else.**_

_**And just to clarify. Luffy spent a year with Vergil and that little issue Vergil had at the end of the second chapter happened before, quite a few times. So I think Luffy would be more serious about it. Also, I imagine he'd be a bit more mature at times if he had to be the responsible one in those situations.**_

_**Either way, I'm glad I'm already at this point, the first time I wrote this, Vergil was just there, he had little to no influence on how things went. Then, last time I wrote this arc I completely flipped the situation and gave him all the spotlight. This time I tried to go for a more balanced approach and I hope it fixed the problems some of the readers had with the Black Thunder's Syrup village arc.**_

* * *

_**Answers on reviews:**_

_**Guest – Thank you.**_

_**KP360 – Yeah, imagine if it took me like sixty chapters to get to Grand Line.**_

_**V: Author…**_

_**Right, it did the first time… Anyway, One Piece certainly keeps getting better and better. Hopefully, it won't reach its peak before final arc like some other long-running manga. As far as my story goes, one more thing that can hurt it is the fact that there are a lot of stories with same basic idea – OC with Straw Hats from roughly the beginning, so a lot of people covered what I'm covering right now. Some of the devils you mentioned are there, though some names were changed as you will see soon enough. The demon in this arc was there in the previous version as well but Payac is brand new. **_

_**And now we reach the part about Payac. If you look at the way Cabaji and even Mohji were introduced in that arc you'll see it was just as abrupt as Payac, especially in Cabaji's case, so while I get where you're coming from I also don't see it as much of a problem. Either way he'll get a bit more attention sooner or later, though I don't feel like every OC needs equal amount of attention so he'll get as much as story requires him to get.**_

_**Sagicknight – Thank you, I'm glad they are still funny.**_

_**Scarlet rose white – Thanks, hopefully this schedule idea will keep pushing the story for a long time. As you've already seen this chapter was way different than the one in previous version.**_

_**Guest – Thank you.**_

_ **V: Updates twice a week, Monday and Friday, or Sunday and Thursday depending on where you live.**_

_**SubZPhantomX – It's hard to imagine Buggy not having one on the crew, I mean he got the giants for some time.**_

_ **V: Buggy is a D. wait, like Luffy?**_

_ **No Vergil, he's not.**_

_ **V: But-**_

_ **I'll explain later. Anyway, that certainly could be the case, but the more I thought about it the more it felt like the crew acts as a safe place for everyone, so the idea of Vergil being the one protecting and the one protected came to mind. At least that's the idea. Still, thanks, I'm glad someone mentioned that.**_


	7. Going Merry

_**Chapter 7 – Going Merry**_

* * *

Kuro's eye twitched, all of his former followers were downright useless, but before he could focus on the straw hat wearing brat he noticed someone behind him. Believing that someone was trying to sneak up on him he slashed toward the person. "Don't even think of sneaking up on me!"

"Kaya!" Usopp yelled frantically and lunged forward.

Kuro would have cut Kaya if Usopp didn't jump in and tackle her away from the danger and onto the ground.

Kuro's eyes widened as he realized that he almost ruined his own plan but then he regained his composure.

"Usopp-san, are you all right?" Kaya asked as she looked at Usopp, the young man was slightly shaken up but in a much better condition than he could have been in if he was fighting alone.

"Kaya, what are you doing here?" he exasperated as she knelt down next to him; he slowly got onto his knees.

"I'm sorry, Usopp-san. I know you may not forgive me for what I've done. I just couldn't believe that, Kl- Klahadore is a pirate…!" she apologized looking away from the man she refused to believe just yesterday.

"That doesn't matter now!" Usopp snapped at her bringing her attention to him. "Why did you come here? I told you to run away! He wants to kill you!" Usopp tried to hammer it into her brain knowing that Kaya was in danger here.

Her eyes watered up. "But, aren't you fighting?!" she yelled, all the regret bottled up on her way to the coast spilling out with just a couple of words. "I did such a horrible thing to you and yet you are still fighting. That's why."

"Miss Kaya," Kuro got her attention. "Why are you here?"

Kaya gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes. "Please stop," she uttered, looking directly at him. "Please stop this, Klahadore!"

Kuro's eyes softened a bit almost as if some part of the entire act was actually honest.

"Merry told me everything," Kaya told him, her voice shaking a bit.

Luffy and the others watched, not interfering at the moment but ready to jump in if needed. Vergil even went as far as to walk over to Nami while Zoro kept his katana unsheathed.

"Klahadore I beg you! If you want my fortune I'll give it to you, all of it! So please leave this place!" Kaya begged, desperate enough to do anything just to stop the unnecessary bloodshed.

"Thank you for the offer, although, there is one more thing I desire," Kuro rejected her without missing a beat.

Kaya's eyes widened at the revelation of there being another thing that Klahadore wanted.

"What I desire is, the tranquility of my soul," Kuro stated with a smile on his face, although one couldn't describe that smile as a nice smile.

"Tranquility?" Kaya repeated slowly.

"Yes, all I want is tranquility. I've spent three years to gain the trust of all the villagers, which made me feel unbelievably comfortable. Therefore, I'd like to keep this sense of tranquility with me forever," Kuro explained, there was no need to mask anything at this point; he could finally shed the role he was resenting.

Kaya took a couple of steps back and reached underneath her coat.

"Therefore… Therefore I must obtain that tranquility and your fortune!" he embraced himself and then pointed toward the pirates. "That means the pirates will attack the village! Then! You will leave a will and die! Those two terms are absolutely necessary," Kuro stated as he looked at Kaya dangerously.

"N-No, he's… Not Klahadore," she slowly pulled out a gun, her hand was trembling.

Vergil's eyes widened at that and he wasn't the only one shocked.

"Stop her! If she provokes him, he'll kill her," Nami was quick to turn to Vergil.

Vergil, realizing how much the girl was shaking sighed. "She can't shoot, and he needs her alive for now. Don't worry, I'll interfere if I need to," he reassured her.

"Run! No matter what you say to him he won't stop! Run Kaya!" Usopp yelled at her. His eyes widened as well when he saw the gun.

"He's not Klahadore," she tried to assure herself as she pointed the gun toward Kuro. "He's not Klahadore!"

"Kaya," Usopp mumbled.

"Leave, this village!" Kaya ordered fiercely.

"Oh, you are actually pointing a gun at me?" Kuro asked honestly feeling a bit surprised at the bold move Kaya made.

"Leave now!" she repeated the order a bit more fiercely this time.

And then Kuro crossed one more line. As he reminded Kaya of everything they went through, as he played with her emotions he didn't realize how much he was pissing off Luffy. All he wanted was to weaken her resolve to the point of just taking her gun.

"I, formerly known as Captain Kuro, had to keep a smile for a little girl whose nose always sniffled," he dropped the gun. "No matter how much I hated it, I tried hard to make you happy."

At this point, Kaya was in tears. Shattered and feeling more betrayed than ever.

"You bastard," Usopp spat from the ground, his eyes going from Kuro to the gun.

"Can you imagine, my humiliation of those days? Can you imagine me, the former Captain Kuro, doing such things?!" he yelled.

Usopp grabbed the gun and shot it while yelling Kuro's name at the top of his lungs.

Still, the former pirate proved to be faster than a bullet and ended up behind Usopp.

Out of blue, actually out of blue, Vergil zapped behind Usopp just in time to stop Kuro's hand. He didn't even flinch when the blades dug slightly into his shoulder, he just stood there.

At the same time, Luffy reacted as well and punched Kuro straight in the face. "There's a hundred more where that came from!" Luffy announced with a grin on his face.

As the Black Cat pirates stood there shocked that their former captain could be punched like that. Vergil chuckled as he looked at the sprawled on the ground man. "Faster than a bullet shot at point-blank, but not fast enough to dodge a stretching punch from the other side of the slope."

"Usopp pirate crew! Reporting!" Tamanegi, Piiman, and Ninjin yelled as they slammed a shovel, bat, and a frying pan onto Kuro's head.

"You guys!" Usopp gasped in terror.

"Stop that!" Kaya yelled at them honestly afraid of what could happen to the three boys.

"Lady Luck and her vacations," Vergil sighed as he grabbed the boys and pulled them back to the safety, away from Kuro, away from the pirates and close to Usopp and Kaya.

"Give up!" Piiman yelled at Kuro as he struggled against Vergil's hold.

"Kill him! Kill him!" Ninjin cried out even though he wouldn't actually have guts to do so, although in anger and in moments like this his words were reasonable.

"You dare break the peace of this village!" Tamanegi shouted, he, along with his friends slowly calmed down and turned to Usopp like three puppies.

"Captain! As I thought, Captain is fighting them!" Ninjin exclaimed, nothing else mattered at the moment.

Especially not the ominous aura radiating from Vergil.

"Why didn't you tell us the truth? Are we insiders?" Piiman asked sounding a bit angry because Usopp hid the truth. Although he chose the wrong word.

"No! It's outsiders!" Tamanegi corrected him.

"Quit it! Go back home!" Usopp yelled at them, he was frightened of what would happen now; Kuro was clearly enraged if the look in his eyes was anything to go by.

"If we ran that would bring shame to the pride of the Usopp Pirate crew!" Tamanegi argued.

"Shut it," the three boys turned to look at Vergil as the devil glared at them, in just those two words he frightened the boys as well as the two teens in front of him. "Stay out of this."

Kuro stood up, furious that he got punched like that and though the kids screamed he moved right past them. His eyes met with Vergil's and the white-haired devil's glare sent a clear message. If he wanted to hurt anyone that couldn't defend against him, he'd have to go through Vergil first. Well, as tempting as that was, he'd deal with the devil later, he'd die after the brat that just punched him.

"Not bad!" Kuro commented as he turned to glare at Luffy. "That was a good punch! You! You ate the Devil Fruit didn't you?!"

"Yeah, the Gomu Gomu no mi. I'm a rubber man," Luffy replied, he was glaring at Kuro.

"You're the only one left, might as well give up," Vergil reminded Kuro, sure Jango was still there, but he was obviously more of a nuisance right now. In the meantime, he led the kids and Kaya further away from the battle to where Nami was still standing. Zoro and Usopp joined him there

Kuro failed to see the problem in that. "So? First I'll take care of you, kid! Then Miss Kaya will write the will and then I'll kill her!" Kuro declared, Jango would simply deal with hypnotizing Kaya and thus make her write the will.

"That won't happen," Luffy casually disagreed.

"We can leave the rest to him. I'll go and get the treasure!" Nami announced, now that Kuro was the only one standing she was ready to focus on something different, something much more important.

Vergil glanced at her and sighed. "I'm going with you," he stated surprising her a bit.

Nami raised an eyebrow, expecting a further explanation.

"There could be a guard or something on this stupid ship, I ain't taking risks," the white-haired devil told her and began walking toward the ship.

"Where do you two think you're going?!" Jango yelled at them when Vergil just walked up to him.

"Aboard your ship," the devil said and knocked Jango out with a simple chop to the side of the neck.

"Effective," Nami grinned at him; she was getting quite comfortable with the devil.

"Luffy, take Kuro down, Nami and I'll get some treasure," Vergil stated and picked Nami up bridal style, using one more burst of lightning he reached the board of the Black Cat pirates' ship.

The battle was coming to its conclusion and Zoro sat down next to Usopp and the others to observe the final battle.

"It's over for you, even if you try running. I am perfectly aware of Kaya's health, she won't make it too far before I finish you off," Kuro stated, he was trying to hammer in just how useless their resistance was.

"You bastard! You've been living under the same roof for three years! Don't you have any compassion for her?!" Usopp demanded angrily.

"None!" Kuro stated without hesitation and turned to the girl, he could see that she was on the brink of crying but he didn't care. "Kaya you are only a part of my plan. Although, I might thank you after your death."

"Why you," Usopp growled. He never hated anyone as much as he hated Kuro.

"There's no helping that guy," Zoro said as he glared at the former pirate captain, this was despicable.

"I didn't plan on helping him in the first place," Luffy replied and attempted to punch Kuro, however, the former captain leaned to the side and evaded the fist. Luffy's body shot forward after the stretched fist as he tried to hit Kuro. Kuro dodged the attack and Luffy halted to a stop with a couple of small bounces up and down.

Kuro appeared behind Luffy and tried to slash him, but Luffy lunged forward used his hands to balance his body, and put his foot together. "**Gomu Gomu no Spear**!" Luffy's legs stretched as he attacked Kuro, his feet put together really resembled spear in a way, either way, Kuro disappeared again. "Damn, he disappeared again," Luffy complained. He landed back onto his feet and Kuro appeared not too far away from him.

"Before we fight I'd like to ask one thing," Kuro began. "As an outsider why are you getting yourself involved?"

Luffy grinned. "Because there is a man on this island I don't want to see dead," Luffy easily replied.

Usopp's eyes widened at that, it didn't take a genius to understand who Luffy was talking about.

Kuro allowed himself a smirk. "That's simple, but is it all right? That will be the reason for your death," he stated confidently that he would be capable of killing Luffy.

"It's fine. But I won't die!" Luffy declared confidently.

"Let me show you death!" Kuro exclaimed as he prepared to attack.

Luffy stretched his hands and grabbed onto Kuro's arms, he attempted to kick Kuro but the former captain moved his arms and flung Luffy to the side. Luffy spun around and while still in the air attacked once again. "**Gomu Gomu no Whip**!" his leg swung in an arc right toward Kuro who jumped up to evade it. "And, **Pistol**!" Luffy's fist shot forward as soon as his leg returned back to normal. Kuro vanished in mid-air and landed on the ground only to jump again to dodge another punch. He attempted to and on Luffy's arm but Luffy ran forward and quickly pulled his arm back.

"**Gomu Gomu no Gatling**!" the quick barrage of punches was way harder to dodge than straightforward attacks Luffy used up until that point but Kuro managed to weave through them all.

"You're wide open," Kuro raised his arm, ready to cut Luffy's arm off.

Luffy stretched his left arm, one outside of Kuro's reach, and grabbed onto a tree while he pulled back his right arm. "**Gomu Gomu no**," his body was pulled towards the tree. "**Sickle**!" he got Kuro just as the former pirate was attacking and slammed his forearm into Kuro's body.

Kuro fell to the ground, shaken up by the powerful attack while Luffy skidded forward before stopping not too far away from his opponent.

"Vergil's faster than you," Luffy explained, after a year of sparring with Vergil he knew how to counter quick opponents.

"That straw hat guy is definitely strong," one of the pirates realized.

"Th-That's captain Kuro," another one said, they exchanged glances and then began cheering for Kuro to kill Luffy and overall began chanting Kuro's name.

"Don't call me by that name ever again!" Kuro yelled at them, thus successfully scaring them off. "You don't get it yet? For this is, my plan to completely get rid of the name 'Captain Kuro'!"

Luffy looked at him a bit confused.

"I've had enough, of the days when I had to plan everything out for you guys who only knew how to make a ruckus! Enough of those government dogs that kept chasing me to get the reward! I can't take it anymore!" Kuro yelled. And there it was the reason for all of this. "And so after today's plan succeeds, I will have achieved my goal. I will have money and tranquil life. You get it, kid? The plan which has taken three years will not fail. My plan never fails!" Kuro announced as he ran toward Luffy.

Luffy dodged and moved behind Kuro, bringing the fight back to the slope. As Kuro made another attack Luffy stretched his hands behind him and grabbed a huge rock before lifting it and placing it in front of himself as a makeshift shield. Kuro's blades got stuck inside of it.

"It seems like you can do more than just stretching yourself," Kuro commented, still unaware of what was about to happen.

Sides of the rock shattered under Luffy's grip. "Of course, I'm well trained. To be a pirate!" he stated as he pulled the rock to the side and shattered the blades surprising Kuro. "You can't take it anymore you say? If you are afraid of the fame of the sea, then you are not qualified to be a pirate!" he slammed the rock onto Kuro. "If you want to compare the ambitions, mine is much greater!" Luffy announced.

_**~X~**_

Nami was trying to unlock the chest that the Black Cat pirates held their treasure in while Vergil leaned against the wall.

"You think they'll be all right?" Nami suddenly asked.

"Of course, Luffy is stronger than me," Vergil pointed out, there weren't any guards but he preferred being bored rather than worried.

Nami paused a bit at that. "To be honest I can't really see it. You being weaker," she replied, sure, she didn't see much of the crew fighting, but Vergil was fairly strong.

Vergil chuckled at that. "I was stronger at first. But in the last two months, I couldn't beat him. Sure we were only sparring, but it was obvious who had the upper hand," he revealed without a hint of embarrassment.

The orange-haired girl nodded and finally unlocked the chest. "There we go," she grinned.

_**~X~**_

Kuro stood up to reveal that he had a trail of blood dripping from his head down the side of his head, his hear was a bit messier as well.

The pirates Kuro once led cheered him on to defeat Luffy.

"You fools shut up!" Kuro yelled shutting the pirates up. "I will exterminate all of you later," he promised causing the pirates to start panicking.

"What do you think a crew is?" Luffy asked getting angrier and angrier with every little thing Kuro did.

"A pirate crew is just a bunch of dogs that aren't capable of living in a civilized society," Kuro responded coldly. "What would they be able to do without someone telling them a plan? I had to plan everything out for them. The shipmates are just pawns at their captain's disposal. Whether they live or die is up to me. No matter how great my obstacle is my plan must succeed, they are supposed to die to fulfill my plans," when Luffy simply looked at him sending a non-verbal message Kuro became completely enraged. "That's the fate of the pirates! Don't you dare lecture me, boy!" Kuro yelled, his anger rising up as well.

"Even if a Captain like you has tens of thousands of men. You can never win against Usopp," Luffy stated surprising the pirates.

"What'd you say? I can't compare to that make-believe captain?" Kuro asked, the rubber man was getting under his skin, that much was clear.

"That's right," Luffy simply replied.

Kuro laughed. "That's funny. Don't think too highly of yourself just because you took care of one of my hands. Where can he surpass me?" Kuro asked as he began using his **Stealth Foot**. "Tell me!" he demanded.

The straw hat wearing pirate grinned. "Composure."

It was simple and it meant everything.

"What?!" Kuro asked as he appeared behind Luffy.

"You don't know the real meaning of being a pirate!" Luffy exclaimed as he side-swept Kuro and sent him slamming into the hill. Pirates' mouth dropped at the feat Luffy had just pulled.

Smoke started clearing to reveal Kuro sitting on the ground, his head hung down but he was still conscious, although his vision was starting to get blurry. "You dare insult me. You want to know what a real pirate is like? Then let me show you right now," he slicked his hair back. "How terrifying. How terrifying a pirate is when he's been to hell and back countless times!" Kuro exclaimed as he stood up. He began swaying left and right.

"Hey, that pose, it can't be," one of the pirates realized.

"He's going to use that?" the second one asked as he held onto the sides of his head in panic.

Luffy glanced toward them, clearly unsure of what to think about their reaction.

"He's only got one opponent," the third one pointed out.

"But there's no doubt about it! It's **Shakushi**! He's going to use **Shakushi!**" the fourth pirate said one thing that was on everyone's mind.

"We shouldn't just stand here! We are within the range as well!" another one of the pirates yelled.

"Please don't Captain Kuro! Don't do it!" they begged but Kuro would never listen to them.

Luffy looked confused at their pleas. "What's with them?" he wondered. "Isn't he just swaying back and forth?"

Pirates continued begging but Kuro continued swaying, when he lifted his head Luffy was a bit surprised, the former captain's eyes disappeared, the only thing that remained was the sclera.

"**Shakushi!**" Kuro disappeared. Purplish smoke was left behind on the place he had just moved from.

Luffy concentrated, and then he spotted Kuro. After all, compared to Vergil zapping around Kuro moving without much control was easy to track.

Up, on the ship, Vergil, carrying the decently sized bad filled with treasure, and Nami walked up to the figurehead.

"Cheap, I thought they'd have more treasure then that," she complained. "Either way the battle should be over by now," she believed, after all the pirates were seemingly defeated.

Vergil, on the other hand, realized that it was far from over. "Kuro is still standing and he is just about to attack," Vergil told her when he saw her confusion at the unmoving pirates.

"Where is he?" Nami asked, she realized that Vergil could see Kuro, how he could do that was unknown to her; she supposed that it was some devil or training thing.

"He's going toward that pirate," Vergil said and pointed at the slim, average looking pirate that was standing near the middle of the area, the one that was wearing a dark gray shirt.

Just as he said that Luffy moved and slammed his foot into Kuro before the man could cut his crew.

"No way," Nami muttered, she didn't know whether to feel scared by the fact that Kuro was about to kill one of his own or that Vergil knew exactly who Kuro was going toward, she chose to mix the fears and be a bit afraid of both facts, although Kuro scared her a bit more. But there was also the fact that Luffy actually saw Kuro as well, not only saw but stopped him. If she didn't believe Vergil that Luffy was stronger, well now she believed it.

Luffy finally had it with the black-haired pirate. His eyes showcased anger as he bellowed. "What do you take your Nakama for?!"

"Luffy," Nami muttered, she was honestly surprised by the sudden outburst.

Luffy shot his arms forward and while Kuro dodged the first one he failed to dodge the second one, Luffy grabbed onto him and stopped him. In a moment everyone could see that Luffy wrapped his legs around Kuro's waist and arms around Kuro's arms.

"Let's see you get away now," Luffy said with a grin.

"You bastard," Kuro hissed as he tried to get free.

"With this, your three years of detailed planning come to an end!" Luffy announced.

"What did you say?!" Kuro growled as he tried to get himself free. "Let go!" he demanded, desperately trying to keep his plan going.

Luffy bonked Kuro's head with his own head before shooting his head back. "**Gomu Gomu no**…"

"My plan will never," images of his three years-long plan flashed in front of Kuro's eyes as Luffy's head closed in. "Fail!

"**Bell**!" Luffy's head slammed into Kuro's, a loud gong-like sound could be easily heard as Kuro spat out blood, it was finally over as Kuro fell on the ground face first and Luffy landed on one knee next to him. The former captain was defeated.

Kuro was laying there, unconscious and utterly defeated and pirates watched with their mouths wide open as Luffy stood up.

"It's over," one of them dared to utter.

"Not even Marines could do anything about him," another one reminded them. "But he really beat him!"

"Who on earth are you?!" they demanded to know.

"Monkey D. Luffy. Against a pirate who'd discard his name and run away from the sea. There's no way I'd lose to that kinda guy. A true pirate would never give up his name 'til the day he dies," Luffy stated, his words echoed, reaching his Nakama, reaching Usopp and proving once again the dedication Luffy had to his goal.

"Luffy? As I thought, I've never heard that name before," the pirate said.

"Remember my name for the rest of your lives," Luffy said and then grinned at them. "For I am the man that will become the next Pirate King," Luffy grabbed onto Kuro's collar and threw him toward the pirates. "Take him with you! Don't come back here ever again!" he yelled at them as pirates ran toward their ship.

Vergil grinned and jumped down with Nami and the treasure in his arms.

Nami smiled at Luffy.

"Thanks for the hard work."

Pirates left in a hurry afraid that someone could go after them.

"Hey, back there, why were you so angry?" Nami asked curiously as Luffy sat down and Vergil leaned against the cliff.

"I don't like them. They are plain wrong," Luffy began, a frown crossed his features as he stared at the sky.

Nami gritted her teeth and looked up; this didn't go unnoticed by Vergil.

"Companions aren't meant to be regarded like that," the straw hat wearing teen stated.

"What are you talking about? That's the way it is," Nami said after a small bit of hesitation. "Pirates aren't as noble as they are in your dreams. Captain Kuro is a standard example."

Everyone looked at her and then Luffy declared a rather serious desire. "I want meat."

Nami slammed her fist onto his face. "Why I ought to," she growled at the rubber man that shook his arms around.

Vergil and Zoro chuckled a bit.

"Well, he does deserve some meat," Vergil said in Luffy's defense.

"He needs to know when to say something like that!" she shouted at the grinning devil. "And quit taking his side all the time!"

"Who cares, he's right, I'd like some food as well," Vergil causally replied.

"You are both hopeless," she said and massaged her forehead. The two pirates were very successful at giving her a headache, almost as successful as they were at fighting. In the end, she gave up and stood up.

Usopp turned to the boys and Kaya. "Can you keep everything that's happened here a secret?"

"Eh, a secret?! Why?!" Ninjin asked, he couldn't wrap his head around the idea of keeping something like this a secret and he wasn't the only one.

"That's right! Captain has fought with his life on the line to protect the village!" Piiman exclaimed.

"Captain, everyone will look at you differently! You'll be the village's hero!" Tamanegi told him.

"That's right!" they all kept rambling about it.

"Usopp-san, you should clear all the misunderstandings with the villagers," Kaya said, hoping that she could change his mind.

"What misunderstandings? They'd just think I'm lying like usual," Usopp reminded her. "There's no point in telling them things of the past, it would just cause panic."

Kaya's eyes widened at his words.

"Heh, besides this is a one-time special situation. There shouldn't be any more pirates that would attack a village as secluded as this one. So let's just pretend nothing happened. It was just a hoax to fool everyone," the young sniper explained, confident that this was the way things should resolve.

Everyone looked at Usopp, they finally understood his reasoning.

"I won't force you-" he continued but he was cut off.

"No, I'll do it! If it's for the best of the village!" Ninjin was the first one to agree with him.

"Me too!" Piiman agreed.

"Me three! I won't say a word!" Tamanegi added and with his agreement the three boys have all agreed not to tell anyone about what happened.

"We won't mention this ever again!" they chorused together.

"Kaya," Usopp called, he wanted her to agree as well. "Will you be tempted?"

Kaya smiled and lightly shook her head. "No."

"All right! Now that's settled we are going to eat!" Luffy yelled and jumped to his feet, eager to get some food into his stomach.

"I second that," Vergil agreed, less excited about the idea but supportive of it nonetheless.

Usopp turned to the entire crew and smiled at them. "Thank you, without you, I wouldn't be able to protect the village."

"What are you talking about? If you didn't risk your own life I wouldn't have done a single thing," Zoro told him.

"Same here," Luffy agreed, though, taking into consideration that he already wanted to keep Usopp safe, perhaps that wasn't completely the case.

"Same goes for me," Vergil added.

Nami was hugging her treasure bag. "All that doesn't matter now. I've got my treasure," she said sweetly.

"Seriously?" Vergil muttered but then grinned. "Well, as long as you are happy about it."

Usopp laughed a bit. Then he looked up. "Thanks to this incident I've finally decided on something."

Luffy glanced at him but he could already guess what was Usopp's decision.

"Let's go, we should leave them for a bit," Vergil said and then turned to Kaya. "By the way, I'll admit it, you've changed my mind a bit, you've got some guts," he stated and slowly began walking away.

"Food!" Luffy cheered.

Kaya smiled a bit. "Thank you all for helping us, and please come to my mansion, you should get patched up," she offered.

"That would really help up out," Nami quickly responded before any of the males could refuse for whatever reason.

Kaya looked back and she realized that Usopp and the three boys needed to be left alone for a bit "Please follow me," she motioned for the crew to follow her to the mansion.

_**~X~**_

The next morning the crew was at the tavern, waiting for their meals. The crew was perfectly fine aside from a few minor injuries and ready to leave the island, though they still didn't have a ship, which wasn't all that good.

Luffy was choking on some fish bones. Finally, he managed to get it out and simply began chewing on it.

"We've had a nice grub," Zoro commented, he and Luffy were sitting on one side while Nami and Vergil sat on the other side of the table.

"You guys, I'll have to teach you, this is how the remaining of the fish you just ate should look like," she scolded them as she held her remains of the fish. Luffy had barely a couple of bones left and was chewing on them, Zoro had nothing left.

"Give it up Nami," Vergil said mostly because he knew a losing battle when he saw one and Nami was trying to fight it.

The girl glanced at the remaining bones on Vergil's plate, intact, well at least he had some manners.

Doors of the tavern opened and Kaya went in. "Here you are."

"Yo, miss," Luffy greeted.

"Are you sure you are well enough to go around?" Nami asked.

"Yes, my illness over the past year was due to my depression because of my parent's death. Usopp-san tried so hard to cheer me up. I can't let it all go to waste," Kaya stated causing the group to smile. "I have prepared a little present for everyone; I hope you'll accept it openheartedly," Kaya said kindly.

_**~X~**_

Not too long after that, the Straw Hats found themselves in front of their long-awaited ship.

The ship was a caravel, with a jib and a central steer rudder. The ship's armaments consisted of four cannons, one in the bow pointing forward, one in the stern, and two pointing at either side. The ship's figurehead was a sheep's head.

"A caravel!" Nami exclaimed, they all looked happy.

"Is this really for us?" Luffy asked in disbelief.

"Yes, please accept it," Kaya replied.

"Although it's somewhat of an old fashion, I was the one who designed it. The ship's frame and its triple mast sails are all part of a stern-centered control system. I call it 'Going Merry'! First, let me brief you in on how to sail it. First how to turn it on and adjust the power," Merry began the explanation.

"Ah no, no! You only need to tell me how to operate the ship!" Nami butted in before any other crewmembers could get the idea that they could sail the ship after hearing the explanation only once.

"It's a nice ship. The figurehead looks so cool!" Luffy exclaimed.

"I suppose," Vergil said, though it did look strange to him, being a devil he wasn't all that used to such peaceful designs of figureheads.

"I've had everything needed to set sail on the ship," Kaya told them.

"Really? Thank you! That's really thankful of you," Luffy thanked her, though he messed up a bit with his word choice.

"That's 'thoughtful' not 'thankful' you idiot," Zoro corrected him.

At that moment they heard Usopp, with an oversized backpack several times bigger than him on his back, rolling down to them.

"Usopp-san!" Kaya gasped.

"What's he up to?" Luffy wondered.

"Maybe he's breaking the world's record for longest rolling with the backpack," Vergil suggested, quite seriously as well.

"There's no way that's true," Nami lightly knocked him on the side of the head.

"Why not? You humans can be really weird," Vergil frowned a bit as he thought back to all the weirdos he met while in this world, starting from some of the bandits, all the way to the most recent weirdo Jango.

Nami just gave him a blank stare as if she couldn't comprehend the words he had spoken.

"Whatever he's doing we should stop him, he's heading toward the ship," Zoro pointed out.

And so, to prevent any damage befalling the ship before it even set sail, Luffy and Zoro lifted their legs up and Usopp hit their feet with his face.

"T-Thanks," he thanked them, though he did sound like he was in a certain amount of pain.

"No problem," Luffy replied casually, unaware of any potential pain Usopp may have experienced in their kind act of stopping him.

"You are really setting off, aren't you, Usopp-san?" Kaya asked once Usopp got himself free from the large backpack.

"Yeah, I should go before I change my mind," he said, then turned toward her. "Don't stop me."

"I won't stop you. I had a feeling that you would," she replied even if she wanted to say otherwise.

"Heh, that's kind of disappointing. Next time I return to this village I'll tell you stories far more outrageous than the once I told you before," he promised. It hurt a bit, leaving his home, but he knew he had to do this, he'd regret it if he just remained stuck on his island for the rest of his life.

"I'll look forward to it," Kaya said. She did a good job hiding the sadness she felt.

"You guys take care! I'll see you again someday!" Usopp said to Luffy and others.

"Why?" Luffy asked. He thought Usopp figured it out already, but apparently, he didn't.

"Why… You are really slow, aren't you? I'll be a pirate like you so we might meet on the sea one day," Usopp explained, he didn't understand that he was the slow one in this case.

"What're you talking about, hurry up and get on," Zoro said as he pointed at the deck.

"Eh?" Usopp was seemingly confused by what the pirates were saying.

"We are already Nakama," Luffy told him patiently.

Usopp took a couple of moments before he finally replied. "Captain… I am the captain!" he shouted as he jumped up.

"Don't be stupid, I am the captain!" Luffy yelled, for this, he had no patience.

Everyone began laughing.

"So, do you two lovebirds need more time to separate or we can go now," Vergil teased with a good-natured smirk on his face.

Kaya looked away embarrassed.

"The hell are you talking about Vergil?! We are not lovebirds! Like you are the one to talk in the first place!" Usopp snapped.

"Oh? How come?" Vergil questioned curiously.

"You and Nami!" Usopp yelled.

"Me and her?" Vergil asked as he pointed at Nami. He smirked ready to throw away his life. "At least we are subtle."

Nami's eyes widened as she went up to him and began strangling him. "Don't go giving people the wrong idea!"

"Nami, that's-" Vergil breathed out as he realized that she wasn't pressing against his weak spots.

"Shut up! Be thankful I'm making a conscious effort not to squeeze where it hurts," she hissed, and much to her annoyance he just grinned.

Everyone laughed once again at the antics of the first mate and the navigator.

The new ship, Going Merry had finally set sail for the very first time.

_**~X~**_

As the ship set sail there was only one thing they needed to do, check their new home. A door underneath the stairs seemed like a good start. Zoro went and opened the doors, finding two water-drawing machines that were designed like bikes.

"So that's how the ship gets electricity," Nami realized and turned to Vergil. "You've got competition," she couldn't help but tease.

Vergil rolled his eyes at that, though he couldn't suppress a small grin. "Please, I can provide electricity for ship five times as big as this one without breaking a sweat," he mockingly patted the handle of the machine. "What's that? You give up? Good machine."

Zoro smirked. "I think it's asking you If you can get water as well."

Vergil feigned disappointment. "Touché, you win this round."

"Bathroom's nice, small, but nice," Usopp called out from the side, he and Luffy went for a different door.

Nami nodded approvingly. "Looks like we'll finally be able to take a shower," well, since they spent a few weeks on small boats taking showers was not exactly an option, leaving them with the ocean as their only option for relatively decent hygiene.

"Good thing I no longer light up like a lightbulb in water," Vergil commented as he opened another door. "Crates, cleaning supplies, oars, cannon… Yeah, that's storage I guess," he noticed a large rope. "Probably anchor," he closed the door.

"Shishishi! Light up," Luffy was grinning at him. Obviously, Vergil's little comment reminded him of a short, but inconvenient time, Vergil spent getting used to the Human World which also involved lighting up due to irritation.

Vergil sighed and complied, letting electricity spike up for a few moments. It was similar to how he looked while he used **Zone Of Protection** but it was way weaker.

Nami shook her head as Usopp and Luffy watched their resident devil like two children. "Boys," she sighed not sure what was so amazing about Vergil's little trick, it was merely a reminder of what he was. The ship was definitely nice and it was small enough for them to just yell and everyone would hear. It would make things easier in the long run. In another room, she found barrels with water and more supplies, and another door ahead. As she opened it she saw the bathroom, so Luffy and Usopp were already there.

Luffy ran to the mast and opened the trapdoor. It was a room clearly furnished for sleeping in it. Though they had hammocks and not beds. And there was a nice-looking couch and a table. He went down and his crew followed.

"This is where we'll be staying," Zoro stated as he looked around.

"Yeah, you guys," Nami wasn't having any of this. "I'm taking the other room," she stated firmly leaving no place for arguing. Not that anyone had anything against it.

Vergil walked over to a smaller door in the wall and pulled it open. "You can always come through here if you change your mind," he reassured her and ducked underneath the open palm.

Nami gave him a small glare as she placed her hands on her hips. "Don't get any ideas."

Vergil abruptly got up and slammed the back of his head against the wood. Groaning he rubbed the back of his head and glared at the wall. "I don't think this ship likes me,"

"You do look mean," Nami pointed out.

Usopp nudged Zoro with his elbow. "Be careful, Zoro."

"Watch it!" the swordsman snapped, glaring at their newest Nakama.

All the while Luffy laughed on the couch.

Nami began climbing up the mast. "Let's go check the kitchen," before she even finished the last word Luffy stretched his hands and flung outside.

The kitchen was simple and it served as a place for the helm, some rations, table to sit at, and a place to cook at. Just like the rest of the ship it was small but functional.

All in all, the ship was perfect for their crew.

The crew gathered on the deck ready to make a toast. "To our new ship and our new Nakama!" Luffy exclaimed as the Going Merry sailed further away from Usopp's home.

"Cheers!" they all cheered together as they toasted.

* * *

_**Syrup Village – completed**_

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_**This ended up being one of those arc ending chapters that almost didn't reach 7k, but I feel like I shouldn't stretch this out. Still, other than ending scene I do feel like this chapter was actually fairly boring. It was rather similar to the anime, aside from few bits during the fight. Still, I hope you managed to get through it. **_

_**If you want to keep me motivated, there's a little tool underneath this chapter used to leave reviews. **_

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_**Answers on reviews:**_

_**scarlet rose white – I'm really glad you're getting into the story and thank you very much for continued support. It means a lot.**_

_**Guest – Thank you.**_

_**Hawk – Glad to hear that.**_

_**SubZPhantomX – Thank you. For now, it'll go that way, devil VS devil/demon human VS human, mostly because there's not much space in these arcs for tumbling opponents around. Luffy basically has his opponents set in stone, but I might mix things up a bit as arcs go on. Regardless human part of the crew will get the chance to fight devils/demons eventually.**_

_ **Luffy's part, mostly due to being centered around a fight, wasn't all that difficult to be honest. Not nearly as much as I expected. **_

_ **And for Usopp, you've already seen the chapter, there's really not much shine. Him and Nami kind of got the short end of the stick there. With Luffy awake all the time and Vergil and Zoro there I just couldn't find a way to force him into danger or a situation where he'd get hurt.**_


	8. Vergil VS Zoro

_**Arc 4 – Baratie**_

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_**Chapter 8 – Vergil VS Zoro**_

* * *

Vergil sat in his hammock, for once cursing the fact that he was a darkness devil. Even in the night, he could clearly see. Well, he couldn't see any colors, but other than that he had a rather good sight. He wanted to berate himself, it was an ability most people would do anything for in the times of need. Hiding in the dark, he could see anyone approaching, searching for someone, darkness meant nothing. Total darkness was his greatest ally.

Except there were times when he wanted nothing more than for that same darkness to just hide everything from him. He just wanted to stare into nothingness, detach himself from his devil side just for a few moments.

'_Verge.'_

He wished he could keep his eyes open and just for a moment think he heard her voice. But he couldn't have that.

Wish as hard as he could, he could never have that.

He laid back down, hoping that the sleep would eventually come back to him, but like any other night when she haunted him, it never did. It didn't help that the three of his Nakama slept their way through the night so close to him, it didn't help that their breathing was calm and consistent.

No, the fact that there was someone there with him couldn't help him get her out of his head.

Vergil closed his eyes and he could see her perfectly, though the years had passed he could never forget her. And there, in his memories, she was just as he remembered her before that day, or night, he never found out what time of the day that was. She was smiling, calling his name and the white-haired male gritted his teeth. If only she could just blame him, yell at him, be angry at him, he'd take that over the unwavering love she offered him while she was alive.

No, even as she died because of him she still made sure he knew how much she loved him.

A mother. Perhaps that was the explanation.

Vergil frowned, he was not satisfied with that explanation, he would not accept it. He would carry the blame and every time he touched or looked at the scar on his face he would remember that time. And so he touched the lightning-shaped scar on the right side of his face.

Suddenly he was jolted out of his state by a sound of footsteps, careful, but still audible footsteps outside. That didn't sound like anyone on the crew; furthermore, Luffy, Zoro, and Usopp were there with him, sleeping. That left Nami and her footsteps weren't nearly as loud. When she was sneaking around her footsteps were completely silent. And her footsteps were much lighter even when she wasn't sneaking around. And then he heard another set of footsteps. Two people? That clearly ruled Nami out.

He didn't know why someone was on their ship. He didn't want to know, but he was in a bad mood and they were intruders.

Poor idiots.

The devil grabbed his machete and went outside.

Well, whatever Vergil though he'd find when he stepped outside it really wasn't an adult male wearing something similar to an aviator's uniform and a small boy with goggles around his neck.

"You don't strike me as pirates. Are you guys trying to steal from us?" he cut to the point and unsheathed his machete. He didn't have the patience for some humans sneaking around on Going Merry and it clearly frightened the two. "Not the brightest idea," he assured them, his narrowed eyes and a low tone of his voice were really sending the message across as he approached.

"A devil?" surprisingly the boy realized what the yellow eyes with slit-shaped pupils meant.

"Hm?" Vergil raised an eyebrow at that. "Well, you're not as clueless as I thought you were," there was a small hint of approval in his words, regardless he approached the intruders. His machete was still visible and the moonlight gave it an ominous glint in the night.

The older male stepped in front of the boy. Clearly, he was ready to fight to keep the boy safe. "I know your kind can show mercy, we didn't take anything, we'll even give you our treasure. I beg you, at least let the boy leave," his eyes shone with desperation, there wasn't much chance but he prayed that luck would be on their side once again.

The boy turned to look at his fellow thief and was about to protest but a stern look made him keep his mouth shut.

Something clenched at Vergil's heart for a moment, but he pushed the feeling back. Instead, he focused on the rest of what the thief said. The statement about devils showing mercy made Vergil quite intrigued and he sheathed his machete. Amusement glistened in his eyes when he saw the two humans visibly relaxed. "Is that so?"

"A devil saved us from a pirate crew about two weeks ago," though his methods were questionable the devil did save them. Indeed, the pirate crew was slaughtered in a brutal way and the devil didn't suffer a scratch but he did it to save the people. A young devil wearing a marine captain coat, he didn't know who the devil in question was, but the island was saved and that was all that mattered.

The currently present devil wasn't impressed. "Interesting," Vergil dead-panned, he expected a better story, but it was just a generic case of putting all the eggs in the same basket. "Now, how about you give me your treasure and I'll let you both leave?" he did take notice of another devil lurking in these seas. He doubted it was the same one Nami was connected to so that brought the number of devils he knew of in this part of the sea up by one. There was the Black Market and probably some devils simply living around here. Frankly speaking, he was surprised he hadn't come across a devil by now.

"Y-Yes! Thank you very much!" the older thief had a big grin on his face, once again the luck was on their side.

_**~X~**_

Roughly half an hour later Vergil was sort of glaring at a roughly two hundred thousand beri he obtained from the thieves. He wasn't even sure if that was big amount or not. It would be a lot in Thanatos, but those were entirely different currencies and there was probably one hell of a difference in standards. He didn't exactly care, but they offered and he didn't exactly feel like turning the offer down.

Well, Nami would know what to do with it.

He was finally relaxing, just getting over his most recent dreams when the night got even worse.

He heard Nami screaming.

_**~X~**_

Nami wanted to run, to stop him, to stand in between them. Yet she couldn't, she couldn't move.

"Stop!" she cried out, begging for the devil to stay away from Nojiko. Yet that monster, that devil just smirked, relishing in her cries, in her pain.

Nojiko was frozen, proof that this was just a dream, yet Nami, in her current state of mind couldn't make the difference.

"Anyone," she pleaded, regardless of her situation she prayed that someone would save her sister.

"Anyone? There's no one foolish enough to stand up to me. No one cares about you, not even your own villagers. Did any of them ever come to your rescue? That's right, none of them did. Nami, you will always be alone, you will always be our property," the devil mocked her, his bloodied hand closing in on her sister's neck.

And she screamed her heart out much to the devil's amusement.

'_Nami, Nami wake up!'_

The voice, so familiar. But it was distant as if it didn't belong there.

Krrim smirked as he wrapped his hand around the unmoving form of her sister.

'_Nami, it's not real; whatever it is it isn't real!'_

A male voice, again, it sounded like he was panicking.

A tear threatened to escape her eye as the brown-haired devil squeezed tighter.

And then, lightning, out of blue. It stopped everything, stopped Krrrim. The voice…

"Vergil," she breathed out his name, her eyes opened to the darkness of her room on Going Merry. Her breathing was heavy, uneven as she looked around. She was barely aware of how close the two of them were.

"Easy. It's over, you're safe," he whispered into her ear.

Slowly, Nami began realizing what happened. Her balled fists were pressed against the white-haired devil's chest. Perhaps she hit him a few times. She could hear his breathing, just slightly deeper than it usually was and from the corner of her eye she could see a part of his face, she could see how tightly he had closed his eyes. He was leaning his forehead against her shoulder and his arms were wrapped around her.

Nami's breathing finally calmed down as she relaxed and when it was obvious she was finally calm again she felt the devil move. Instinctively she reached out and grabbed his shirt, her fingers clenched around the material as she looked at his yellow eyes. She could see a slight surprise. "Don't. Just stay for a bit longer," she blurted out. Just this once, after all those years, she needed someone to just stay there with her while she was away from home.

He didn't reply, or at least she was certain he didn't, he just embraced her again.

A devil, of all the people she could end up in this position with it just had to be a devil. Nami let out a mirthless chuckle, low and barely audible, but she was sure he heard it. He didn't react, and she was thankful for that. For years she knew she had to fight alone and she would keep fighting on her own. But just once was fine, right? Just for one small moment, it would be fine to pretend that she wasn't fighting alone. It would be fine to play pretend and think that maybe the devil holding her would be strong enough to help her. To pretend that everything would work out and that no one would die if she sought out their help, his help that he had already offered. That would be fine if it was just for a moment, right?

And it only lasted for a few brief moments, he released his grip on her and she lied down. Wordlessly he covered her with a blanket and sat down at the edge of her bed. Tenderly he moved a strand of hair back to its place and looked her in the eyes.

Even in the moonlight, she could see his eyes, the yellow eyes she used to fear, yet here she was, taking comfort in the intimate position they were in. The worry in his eyes made it almost unreal. It was strange, he didn't strike her as the kind of person that would get this soft; he was not the kind of person that would leave his emotions out in the open like this.

"Think you can go back to sleep?" the question came out barely louder than a whisper.

She nodded, not trusting her own voice or the words that she could potentially blurt out. Telling him to stay for a bit longer was embarrassing enough.

His eyes softened a bit more and he stood up. "We're here, you can relax. As long as you're with us you're safe."

His words were reassuring and she knew what he said was true. But it didn't mean the safety would last much longer…

"Good night," he said and went through the door, their eyes met one last time and she smiled.

"Thanks," it was honest, she couldn't believe it was happening but she was starting to actually consider him a friend, a really good friend.

_**~X~**_

Realizing he likely wasn't going to sleep anytime soon Vergil climbed up to the crow's nest. He couldn't remember when was the last time he felt this frightened. The last time he had to deal with someone other than him having nightmares was when Felan was nine years old, and that was the child he was used to looking out for. Even then it didn't come naturally to him to provide emotional support. And now Nami, the way she was thrashing around pretty much forced him to hold her the way he ended up doing just to make sure she didn't hurt herself in the process. She still resisted, hitting his chest, and struggling. And when her breathing became erratic he was on the verge of panicking.

He figured it had something to do with whatever was troubling her. Maybe that devil that hurt her, or whatever reason she had for wanting exactly a hundred million.

Regardless, he wanted to help her. He didn't know how yet, but he would figure something out.

_**~X~**_

Around noon the crew seemed to really lack any mood whatsoever. It's been a few days since they left Syrup Village and the number of things they could actually do was diminished. Especially since Luffy was busy doing something and Luffy was usually the one to jolt the crew into some activity.

The only one trying to pass time was Usopp who was standing behind the figurehead of the Going Merry; he had a sword sized stick hanging by his waist and a determined and serious look in his eyes.

"Foolish pirates," he began confidently before spinning around and drawing his stick. "You still dare attack this Going Merry knowing that it's led by the great Captain Usopp?!" he jumped down onto the deck and began swinging his stick around. "Violent battle ensues."

From the corner of his eyes Vergil noticed just one thing, Usopp wasn't going to start wielding swords any time soon.

Usopp's little parade was cut short when he saw that everyone else was pretty much doing nothing… Zoro was sleeping, Luffy was doing who knows what at the corner, Nami looked at her map and Vergil kept the lookout but he had a bit of an annoyed look on his face.

"Hey can't you guys pay attention to other people?" Usopp asked, this wasn't how he imagined the pirate life. Frankly, it was a bit boring, he expected action, going from an island to island every day, not spending time doing close to nothing.

"It's done!" Luffy yelled behind him thus making Usopp shriek and jump to the side.

"What's done?" Vergil asked and jumped down from the crow's nest.

"Look, it's our pirate flag!" Luffy replied as he showed them something on the black flag. It was downright badly drawn thing that may have resembled a skull if you looked at it a bit more carefully; the skull also had something that may have resembled Luffy's straw hat…

"That thing?" Vergil inspected it for a few moments. For a moment he contemplated whether or not it could even classify as a flag. Just because he couldn't draw to save his life it didn't mean he couldn't recognize an atrocity when he saw one.

"After Usopp joined us we now have five people. So we need our own mark!" Luffy said with a large grin. He looked really proud of what he did.

Zoro's mouth was slightly open. "That's our mark?" he asked dreadfully.

"What do you think? Nice isn't it?" the captain asked enthusiastically, clearly the boy was oblivious to his lack of talent.

"The idea is nice, it's execution though," Vergil paused for a moment; he was searching for the right word. "It's horrible," he bluntly stated making Luffy pout a bit.

"A pirate flag is supposed to be the symbol of terror and death," Zoro pointed out.

"I certainly do feel terror, the terror of your talent," Nami said as she got a thoughtful expression.

Usopp waved his finger disapprovingly. "You should have discussed this with me first. How could you forget this genius painter?"

"Genius painter?" Luffy asked as they all looked at Usopp.

"I've had 50 years of experience at painting on the walls," Usopp obviously lied. "When it comes to painting no one does it better than me," well this part was yet to be proven as a truth or as a lie though.

"Incredible, 50 years!" Luffy marveled at the lie.

"Wait so you are an old man," Zoro smirked at their sniper; this was too good of an opportunity.

"Maybe he already had five or six grandchildren," Nami teased.

"That's even more incredible!" Luffy exclaimed.

"How is that even more incredible?" Vergil raised an eyebrow at that before turning back to Usopp. "Don't lie if you aren't ready to take consequences, gramps," he told him with a small smirk on his face.

"Hey," Usopp mumbled, he may have exaggerated it but he didn't think they would react like this.

A bit later Usopp had finished a pirate flag, although it wasn't exactly the one that should be used.

"Now take a look at this masterpiece!" he said as he showed off his own flag, a grinning skull with long nose and slingshot replacing one of the bones.

"That's not out pirate mark!" Luffy and Zoro scolded him as they punched the sides of Usopp's head.

Well, it was time to fix things and Usopp finally painted Luffy's idea making the jolly roger of the Straw Hat Pirates, which was a skull with crossbones that wore Luffy's straw hat.

"Well, that's how it should be," Usopp said as he finished.

"That's really good," Nami said, she was hunching a bit as she looked at the flag.

"I like it," Luffy approved, the flag design really seemed to bring life back to the crew. The pirates that were in a rather sleepy mood seemed to have a rush of energy when it came to doing this.

"All right! I'll start with the outlines, you guys paint the insides!" Usopp quickly took charge. It was the only logical thing to do, after all, he was the most qualified for that job.

Vergil and Luffy brought out the paint while Zoro got the additional brushes and the crew was set to start working.

"Good luck guys," Nami grinned at them. Someone needed to keep them on course.

Zoro simply smirked and walked over to the anchor. "You're not getting out of this one," and he dropped it.

"Yeah, it'll be fun!" Luffy was grinning as he tossed a brush to Nami.

The orange-haired navigator rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly in amusement.

"Nah, let her rest, I bet she can't paint to save her life," Vergil stage-whispered to his captain just loudly enough for Nami to hear him.

"You think?" luckily Luffy seemed too oblivious to not go along, even if he probably didn't intend to help with teasing. "You don't have to if you can't paint, just leave it to us!"

A vein popped on the side of Nami's head at the implication of those words. "Are you implying that you can?" her tone dared him to say yes.

And Luffy, being Luffy, didn't notice that. "Yeah! It's easy, you just move the brush up and down," well with Usopp painting the outline it really wouldn't be hard.

"Is that so?" the navigator seemed to be quite pissed off. "I assure you, I can paint the sails."

"I still don't buy it. And tell you what, how about we make a bet, if you can actually paint the sails I'll give you all the money I have. If you don't prove me wrong you'll take my shift tonight on the lookout," the offer was quite decent, on both ends in a way. Plus, it was easy and quite obvious how it was going to end.

Nami frowned at the offer, as far as she knew the devil didn't have anything valuable besides his machete. "You don't have any money," much to her surprise the devil offered her quite a devilish smirk.

"Some thieves came by last night; I got two hundred thousand to let them go."

Nami seemed to consider how possible the idea was and settled for believing him. "Consider it mine, devil boy," she assured him confidently.

Vergil raised an eyebrow at the sudden shift. "Pfft, devil boy."

Usopp smirked as he lightly nudged him with his elbow. "Subtle, eh?" he really had to tease him here, just to get back at him a bit.

The devil rolled with it after a moment of thought. "You were supposed to keep that a secret, thief princess, people might talk!"

The only response he got was a paintbrush, completely covered with red paint, hitting him on the face.

"Now that's just ironic," Vergil groaned as he whipped the paint.

_**~X~**_

With the sails painted there once again wasn't much for the crew to do, but they were in a much better mood.

"Vergil," Zoro suddenly called the first mate.

Vergil turned to look at him; the serious tone was somewhat surprising given the circumstances. "Hm?"

"Let's have a spar," it was a direct offer, after all, neither of the two felt any need to beat around the bushes.

That really got Vergil's attention. He was itching for a good fight as well and this was a great opportunity. "Sure, but not on Merry," he turned to Nami. "You think you can get us to a secluded area?"

Nami looked at both of them and nodded. "Sure."

_**~X~**_

As the crew relaxed on the deck they heard the sound of thunder in the distance.

"Is this direction all right? It looks kind of bad," Luffy said as he looked at the stormy clouds in front of them.

"It does? It seems good to me," Vergil said, he really had no problem with storms, hell he enjoyed them.

"You're a lightning demon; of course it would seem good to you," Usopp scolded him.

Vergil looked at him, slightly surprised. "I didn't think you knew about that," Vergil actually sounded impressed, especially considering the fact that Usopp still used the term 'demon'.

"About what?" Usopp was completely unaware of what Vergil was talking about.

"He's a lightning devil so he is stronger during storms," Nami explained. "Looks like you got fooled," she smirked at Vergil.

The devil merely shook his head as something caught Nami's eye, the area filled with bare rocks, it would be dangerous to sail through it but the two pirates wanted a place to spar and she would give it to them. "Get ready you two, we're here."

She didn't need to tell them twice as Zoro and Vergil jumped to their feet.

_**~X~**_

The crew was on one of the larger rocks with Zoro and Vergil facing one another about ten meters apart.

"How do you think this is going to end?" Nami turned to Luffy, she was curious to find out what the captain of the crew thought, but the rubber man seemed completely focused on the upcoming battle.

Zoro drew his katana and took his signature stance ready for Vergil to take his own stance as well.

"How long has it been since you practiced fighting with only one sword?" Vergil suddenly asked, he showed no indications of being ready to fight, his machete was still sheathed.

"What do you mean?" Zoro's eyes narrowed, remembering how Nyaban brothers pretty much disarmed him. If all three of his katana were sheathed at that time… he shuddered to think what would happen.

"You already lost your swords once, it could happen again," Vergil didn't sound like he was criticizing him, he was simply stating the facts.

"I won't lose them again," Zoro declared boldly.

Vergil actually laughed at that, which irritated Zoro. "That's just naïve," suddenly the devil's eyes narrowed. "Power can be taken away, Zoro. Unless you are capable at your most vulnerable you will never be strong at your most powerful," he finally unsheathed his machete. "So here is my offer, give me two of your katana and fight me. I'll only use my machete to make things more even. See for yourself how you can deal with a competent enemy when you are weakened. Trust me; it's better to learn it now than during a battle."

Zoro glared at the held out hand, he wasn't about to give his katana like that. But Vergil had some point in what he was saying. It was better to learn now.

"Don't be a spoiled child."

The swordsman snorted at that and walked up to Vergil, two katana that were sheathed into the black sheaths in his left hand and Wado Ichimonji held in his right hand. "Let's see what you have in mind," he accepted and handed over the two katana.

Vergil nodded and jumped back a bit, now they were ready to start fighting.

The first one to charge in was surprisingly Vergil; he clashed his machete with Zoro's katana, quickly pulled to the side, and made another slash. This attack ended with a simple block as well and Zoro took the moment to counter, he turned his katana around and stepped to the side. Swiftly he moved the blade away from Vergil's machete and turned to slice at Vergil.

The devil stepped to the side to evade the blade and blocked the second slash.

For once neither of the two relied on specific attacks; all they did was clash their blades. The sound of two weapons colliding was similar to the sound of metal hitting metal, but there was something different. For some reason, it sounded like Zoro's katana was clashing with a living material, which didn't make much sense to either Nami or Usopp.

Zoro felt a bit uneasy, hitting the Demon Forged really didn't feel natural, he was used to normal weapons, this machete felt different. It didn't offer the same reaction so to speak like the other machetes he clashed blades with. Furthermore, with just one sword he felt wrong.

Vergil on the other hand, the devil was looking like he wasn't too bothered with anything in the battle. His experience with human-made weapons should be more or less the same as Zoro's experience with devil-made ones. Yet he didn't seem affected by the difference.

"Is that all you got?" Vergil actually taunted him and in the moment of Zoro's lack of concentration managed to close in and leave a small cut on Zoro's left shoulder.

The two were far from evenly matched, with every clash Vergil was getting more offensive thus forcing Zoro, who up until now completely relied on having three swords, to go on the defensive. The green-haired swordsman had quick reflexes, as proven when he blocked and deflected every single one of Vergil's slashes, but he had no room to make a proper counter-attack.

Zoro gritted his teeth, this weakness, it infuriated him. After so many years he felt like he did on the day he met Kuina…

He barely blocked the machete and skidded to the side, slashing at the devil. The slice would have cut the devil in half if he didn't jump over it, but Zoro figured he would do that.

Vergil landed behind Zoro, his back turned to the swordsman and he swung his blade in an arc just as Zoro turned around. Machete clashed with a katana and the two struggled in a battle of power.

Finally, they both gave in and jumped to the opposite sides.

Suddenly, Vergil tossed one of the katana back to Zoro; a couple of small sparks circled around his body and then disappeared. "No, not yet, I need to show you something," Vergil smirked and unsheathed Zoro's third katana.

"What the?!" Zoro's eyes widened as he suddenly blocked a machete from his left and a katana from the right.

"Learn," Vergil pretty much demanded as he put more strength behind his attack and actually pushed Zoro back slightly. Darkness appeared around his machete. "Dodge."

Zoro's eyes widened as he jumped back at the last moment. Vergil somehow sent a flying slice attack infused with darkness and it sliced through the stone as if it was made of butter.

The green-haired swordsman watched in absolute disbelief wondering if this was the ability of a Demon Forged. Again he remembered his childhood, again the image of meeting her flashed before his eyes as he was forced into this kind of situation in a sword fight.

_"Even though Kuina is a girl, she is stronger than the adults in the dojo. I'm not the father that brags about his daughter," Koshiro assured him as he called his daughter, who was perhaps a few years older than Zoro._

Vergil didn't give him a moment to rest; in fact, he quickly erased the notion of such ability being limited only to Demon Forged when he sent a similar attack, only without any elemental back-up, with Zoro's katana.

Zoro jumped to the side and unsure of how to deal with a steady barrage of flying attacks he kept evading them.

Once again the devil was putting him on the spot. He was far from slow, but he wasn't used to having to dodge, he was used to taking the attack, not running around like he was now.

He charged at Vergil and growled when Vergil obviously stopped himself from using the same attack and jumped away instead.

For so long he trained with two swords, he was much better with two than he was with one sword and here he was in a situation where he simply couldn't reach the enemy. But if Vergil was trying to imply that he could use those kinds of attacks as well, then this was more than worth it.

Still, that didn't make his frustration go away.

_"You," Kuina began as she watched Zoro's fierce expression. "Have been taught in two sword techniques?" she questioned._

_"I wouldn't know!" Zoro bluntly replied. "Today is the first time I ever held a shinai!" he revealed._

Enraged Zoro blocked the flying slash with his katana and broke it with a decisive battle cry. Determination shone in his eyes as Vergil finally stopped his attacks.

"Good," the devil nodded and sheathed the katana.

_After yet another loss Zoro was back on the floor._

_"You are as weak as usual, Zoro," Kuina commented, her tone however didn't hold the same arrogance as during their first battle. Zoro turned his head to look at her. "How can you be so weak, as a man?" she asked, seemingly mocking him._

"It's time to get serious, don't you agree?" Vergil returned the third katana to Zoro.

Lightning and darkness danced around the devil as Zoro put on his bandanna.

Without another word, everything went from one-sided to completely hectic.

Lightning collided with metal, again and again, sometimes to deflect and sometimes to attack. But the disadvantages were gone and Zoro pushed Vergil back against the rock. Vergil simply smirked and in a quick flash of lightning went above Zoro. He threw his machete at Zoro only to have Zoro deflect it right back at him.

Vergil caught the machete and charged electricity into it as he dropped to the ground. Zoro was right behind him ready to attack, only to be forced into blocking and shattering another flying slash attack.

The slight moment of being forced into defense gave Vergil just enough time to slam his fists together and create an electric charge between them. Similar to how he did back against the demon that was with the Black Cat pirates he moved his left fist to his shoulder and lightning engulfed his right arm.

Luffy stood up suddenly. "Let's get back on Merry."

The other two didn't really question his decision, after all, it looked like this was about to get really destructive.

Whether they were waiting for their crew to get off the rock or were they going to throw the caution into the wind, either way, wasn't clear.

But they clashed, they clashed in a way that made the ground under them crack as the machete engulfed in lightning and three swords pushed against one another.

_"However he's weaker than me," Kuina stopped their blabbering thus making the boys flinch. She had a cocky smile on her face. "Even with two katana a weak guy is a weak guy," with those words she began walking away. "A dog who loses should stay quiet. Barking about it only makes it more pitiful," she added and left the dojo._

Zoro growled as he kept pushing against the lightning. He glared at Vergil, at the way it seemed like he wasn't struggling half as much as he was. He could feel the tingling of lightning as it coursed through his katana, that was enough of a proof. If Vergil was going all out the lightning would hurt him more.

Vergil, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes; Zoro was putting out quite a lot of power. He was impressed by that. For a brief moment lightning coursed through his body and he let it all out, it erupted, went through the rock and they could both hear it cracking.

The two fighters didn't pay much mind to that and clashed once again, lightning collided with the blades and the only thing keeping Vergil's arms intact when he was forced to block with them instead of his machete was a thick layer of darkness combined with lightning spinning around his arms so quickly it disrupted the blades.

_"Promise me. One day either you or I will be the world's greatest swordsman! We can compete to see who does it!" he declared and they looked at each other for some time before she closed her eyes and smiled._

_"Stupid, saying that even though you are weak," she said, it warmed her heart, even as a girl there was this one person, this one boy that believed she could be the best._

_Zoro held out his hand and she took it. "It's a promise," they both said._

Again and again he and Vergil clashed until one thing finally gave in.

The rock.

Nami and Usopp watched with their jaws dropped as the rock fell apart underneath Vergil and Zoro.

Luffy just laughed at the way the two fighters smirked at one another. Lightning vanished and Zoro sheathed his katana as they fell toward the ocean and Luffy took it as a cue to grab and pull the two back onto the ship.

The two fighters landed on the Going Merry. The signs of battle were clearly present on both of them, a few bruises and small cuts among the ruffled appearance of slightly torn clothes.

"You're strong, don't ever doubt that Zoro. However, you're not ready and as long as you only rely on one fighting style," Vergil told him.

"Wait, but Luffy does so too," Nami interrupted suddenly. Zoro nearly scoffed at that, it might have looked like that to someone who wasn't an experienced fighter.

Vergil shook his head slightly. "It looks like that, sure. But Luffy can fight at different ranges, so that's one thing he has over Zoro. He is primarily a free-style fighter, so he'll react in a way he can to a situation. Think about it this way, taking two of Zoro's swords would put Zoro at a big disadvantage. Tie Luffy's hands behind his back and he'll still be able to put a much better fight than Zoro with one sword."

As much as he disliked what he was hearing Zoro chose to stay silent. There was a way to remedy his issue, and that was training. Zoro closed his eyes, the last part of the fight he could accept, they were more or less evenly matched, however before that it was painfully obvious that he was much weaker without all of his katana. He didn't want to admit it but a part of him knew he needed to learn how to fight at a disadvantage.

Zoro scoffed, he kept being silent but it was clear to Vergil and Luffy that he understood.

_**~X~**_

Tomorrow was a rather normal day with the crew. Zoro was sleeping; Usopp was cleaning his slingshot on the deck while Nami sat in the armchair and read her book. Vergil was sitting on the railing shifting his machete around, he even seemed bored to some extent. Luffy on the other hand was carrying a crate, one which he promptly dropped on the deck getting the attention of everyone but Zoro.

"What?" Usopp asked as he turned to look at Luffy.

"Whew, this is heavy," Luffy complained and wiped his forehead, clearly he wasn't tired but he didn't think the crate would be so heavy.

"You should have called me to help you out," Vergil pointed out eager to get up.

"What's that?" Nami asked as she set down her book.

"A crate?" Vergil supplied with a teasing grin on his face.

"I know that!" Nami snapped. Much to her annoyance he just kept grinning even with the glare she was quite obviously directing at him.

Luffy laughed excitedly. "Shishishi. I found these in the storage room," he took and held out a cannonball for them to see.

"Cannonballs?" Nami realized when she looked at the black cannonball Luffy was holding.

"I figured we could practice using our hard-earned cannon," Luffy said and pointed at the cannon on the deck.

The eagerness to participate pretty much left Vergil, he wasn't that fond of firearms. And his aim with those things was fairly awful. Lightning and darkness and anything of that nature he could aim, but a gun… he'd need to be at point-blank range.

"Then leave it to me!" Usopp exclaimed and began rubbing his chin. "I think I was three, when I traveled half of the world riding a cannonball," he began his tale.

"How do you use this?" Luffy completely ignored him and so did Vergil. The devil actually stretched a bit and stood up.

"Listen to me!" Usopp snapped at him.

"Hey, Zoro! Do you know how to use this?" Luffy asked yet he got no reply as Zoro kept sleeping.

"He's been asleep this whole time," Nami told him. She figured he was training the entire night, which would explain Vergil yawning from time to time as well.

"Tch, no fun," Luffy complained childishly.

"If we go a little south, there's a place we can use for practicing," Nami told him.

"Really? Let's go! Let's go!" Luffy urged, excitement at the idea of shooting a cannon was obvious on his face.

"Heh, can you shoot the cannons as well as I can?" Usopp boasted. "People call me the cannon master," he continued but then realized that Luffy wasn't listening. "Listen!"

Nami rolled her eyes at the crew's antics, though she'd lie if she said it was really bothering her. And then she noticed Vergil going towards the kitchen.

"Are you hungry?" she was more than a little surprised, the devil never really seemed that bothered with how much he ate. She spent weeks with the crew so far and this was the first time she saw him head for the kitchen on his own.

"Thirsty," Vergil replied and pointed at the Sun. "It's too hot," he complained.

_**~X~**_

After the target practice, the crew gathered in the kitchen. Zoro was leaning against the fridge, while the others sat at the table.

"That's okay I'll let you have the position for now. However, if you do a poor job I'm going to replace you," Usopp stated still going on about being a captain.

"Usopp," Vergil was the one to speak first making the sniper gulp a bit, the slight fear Usopp had was quite obvious when it came to Vergil, even if the devil helped him. "I'll warn you only once, don't disrespect the captain. Luffy is the captain for a reason and this is the crew of the future Pirate King, respect that as our sniper," Vergil told him, it was the first time Usopp heard him say that and he sounded absolutely confident in what he just said.

Usopp was taken aback by the words and nodded with a nice amount of determination.

Zoro grinned and Nami smiled a bit.

"Shishishi. I've been thinking. Before going to the Grand Line, there's one more position we need to fill," Luffy told them, unfortunately, he wasn't quite specific so his crew sort of misunderstood it.

"Right, and we have such a nice kitchen," Nami was obviously one of the ones that misunderstood their captain.

"I know where this is going, you aren't filling that position," Vergil quickly cut her off making her glare at him. "It would cost more than eating at the most expensive restaurants in the world every day," he deadpanned without a single care in the world.

The orange-haired girl shrugged. "For once you are right," she admitted.

"It's important personnel for any long trip," Zoro pointed out proving once again that Luffy could be quite misleading.

Vergil snickered at that, the crew still didn't know about Luffy's desire to fill one particular position on the crew. He couldn't blame them; he was downright flabbergasted when he first heard it.

"Right. It's one person that a pirate ship absolutely must have," Luffy raised a finger and grinned. "A musician."

"Are you an idiot?!" Zoro demanded loudly.

"What do you think sailing is?" Nami demanded with a scowl on her face.

"I actually thought that you were going to say something smart for once," Usopp commented, he was quickly realizing that Luffy might be happy-go-lucky, but he certainly wasn't the brightest around.

"But pirates have to sing," Luffy argued. "Right, Vergil?" the captain asked for the support from none other than his blunt first mate.

"He does have a point there and while the cook is more important than a musician at this point it's true that a bit fun would be refreshing one in a while," Vergil actually agreed.

"You actually agree with him?" Nami asked feeling like she was just having a bad dream, someone agreed with Luffy on something that was so ridiculous to her.

"I do. A musician is a direct source of amusement, after a long battle, or a bad situation, who would you look for in need of relaxation, a musician, or something similar to that. If he can fight as well then we are hitting a jackpot," the white-haired devil explained.

"But a musician! Vergil think for a moment!" Nami was pleading for just a small bit of sanity to be bestowed upon the white-haired devil. She knocked the side of her head lightly. "Use that head of yours, it's not that hard."

Before the conversation could continue it was cut short when someone jumped onto the deck and kicked the barrel thus breaking it.

"Come out you pirates!" a voice demanded angrily.

"What, what?" Luffy came out. "Who are you?" he asked and saw an average-sized male wearing a pair of sunglasses, light pants, a blue jacket, and a shirt underneath it. He had somewhat tanned skin and he had a black tattoo, a kanji for sea on his left cheek.

"Shut up! It doesn't matter," the man swung his sword and cut the railing thus breaking a part of it. "…Who I am!"

Nami and Usopp looked at the scene through the small window while Vergil and Zoro sat back.

"How many opponents are there?" Zoro asked mostly out of curiosity.

"Is there… one?" Nami guessed still not buying the fact that there was only one opponent.

"Then leave it to him," Zoro told her.

"I've killed countless pirates. But a no-name pirate like you tries to kill my partner!" the man yelled as he swung down, Luffy dodged with ease.

"That voice," Zoro seemed to recognize the voice.

"Partner?" Luffy asked. "What do you mean, partner? I don't know what's going on," Luffy told him feeling honestly confused. He knew one thing though as he grabbed the man by the sides of his head. "But, don't damage our ship!" Luffy sent the attacked flying and slamming into the wall. "What was that?" Luffy wondered, unsure of how to respond to this, after all a stranger just came on board claiming they tried to kill his partner.

"Hey, you. Aren't you Johnny?" Zoro asked once he came outside.

"Who is it? Calling my name with no respect?!" Johnny demanded but then he saw that it was Zoro. He quickly sat up. "Zoro-aniki!"

"So it is Johnny," Zoro realized upon taking a better look at the man, plus the way he addressed him really gave it away.

"Why are you here big bro?" Johnny asked.

"Where's Yosaku? You're not together?" the swordsman didn't answer the question; instead he asked a few of his own.

"What, what? You two know each other?" Luffy asked as he pointed at Zoro and then at Johnny.

"So it seems," Vergil replied as he stepped out as well.

Usopp and Nami still watched through the window as Johnny ran off to somewhere.

"What? Those two know each other?" Usopp asked her, or no one in particular as Nami really had very small chances of having the answer.

"What's going on?" Nami wondered.

"Come on you two, you can get out," Vergil called them.

As for Zoro, he followed Johnny to the railing where the other boat was attached to Going Merry. He looked down along with crying Johnny to see Yosaku, a man wearing a black shirt with a long green coat, red headgear, and plaid yellow shorts over unshaven legs. He was however wounded and had bloody bandages wrapped around his stomach.

"Yosaku is," Johnny tried to say but due to crying he couldn't actually say it.

Zoro placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and they pulled the wounded man up.

"He's ill?" Zoro asked, now that Yosaku was on the deck they could see that he looked rather sick and that he was panting heavily.

"Yosaku is… He was perfectly fine up until a while ago. Then he grew pale and began losing consciousness. I have no clue why," Johnny told them as he sat next to his fallen partner, he was holding onto his head trying not to cry.

Nami walked down the stairs.

"Lately his teeth have started to fall off and his old wounds have started to bleed again. I just don't know what to do anymore! So I took him to that rocky island to let him rest, but," he began remembering what happened. Johnny was sitting next to the lying Yosaku when the cannonball hit the island. Johnny could only watch as the top of the island got blown up into smithereens. "That's when your ship attacked us," Johnny told them making Luffy and Usopp look at him with mouth wide open and horrified look in their eyes.

Nami finally reached the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm sorry!" both Luffy and Usopp apologized as they bowed down.

"If all the problems could be solved with an apology, we wouldn't need the Marines. Isn't that right? Partner!" Johnny cried out. "Big bro is he, going to die?" he asked Zoro.

Zoro didn't answer; he wasn't sure about what to say. He couldn't just tell him Yosaku would be fine when he wasn't sure of that.

"Not yet," Vergil supplied as he observed Nami, unlike the others she seemed as annoyed as he was. All things considered, the devil took a wild guess and figured she was annoyed by their lack of knowledge.

"Are you stupid?" Nami asked as she walked past Luffy and Usopp and knelt down in front of Yosaku.

"What?" Zoro demanded, he was ticked off at Nami's lack of compassion.

Nami ignored him and pulled out Yosaku's tongue and checked his eye. She pulled on Yosaku's tongue a couple of times.

Johnny, as enraged as he was, tried to stop her only to be held back by Vergil. "What are you doing to my buddy here?" he demanded loudly and actually spat as he shouted.

Nami moved away a bit to avoid the spit.

"Don't spit at her. She's trying to help," Vergil said and bonked the man on the head. He did it lightly though, by his standards at least.

Nami offered the devil a quick smile of appreciation before turning back to Yosaku. "Luffy! Usopp!" she called the crying pirates. "There are some limes in the storage, aren't there?" she asked but when she got no response she angrily turned to them. "Are you listening? Bring 'em to me, right now!" she ordered fiercely.

"Aye, aye!" they quickly agreed and ran to the doors but as they went in at the same time they got stuck…

"Get out of my way!" Luffy demanded.

"You get out of my way!" Usopp argued.

"Hey, you are the one who is in my way!" Luffy argued back. They finally went through and with a yell, they crashed into the floor.

A bit later Luffy and Usopp were squeezing the limes onto Yosaku's face.

"He's got scurvy," Nami said as she observed the 'treating' process.

"Scurvy?" Johnny asked, it wasn't that he was completely unaware of what that meant, he just wasn't exactly sure about the details. He knew it was a sickness though.

"We've got him in time. He should recover in a few days," Nami assured him, a part of her wondered just how did she end up coming across so many people with an obvious lack of common sense and basic knowledge in the last couple of weeks. And it all started when she met the captain and the first mate of the crew she was currently on.

"Is that true big sis? I am really grateful big sis!" he thanked her and well once again spat as he talked.

Nami clapped his mouth shut. "Stop spitting all over me, please," she told him a bit harshly but none the less with a good reason. "In the past, it was an incurable disease that plagued sailors."

"Come on. Drink up," Luffy and Usopp urged the unconscious man.

"But now, it's just a minor problem caused by the lack of Vitamin C. In the past ships couldn't carry enough fresh fruit to avoid it," as she said that Luffy began stuffing the lime into Yosaku's mouth.

"Come on drink up," the two boys urged him as they stuffed even more limes into his mouth.

"He should be fine now," Usopp eventually said when it came to a point Yosaku was more likely to die from suffocation than sickness.

Nami let out a frustrated sigh.

"You sure are something. You are like a doctor," Luffy told her, amazed at the skills his navigator showcased.

"I've always known you were a smart woman," Usopp added as he held his hands half-raised.

"Yep, that's it," Luffy agreed sending Nami over the board.

"You should of at the very least known what this was!" she snapped at them. Her teeth even became shark-like due to her anger. "It could happen to you sooner or later too you know!"

At that moment Yosaku spat out the pieces of limes and sat up, his skin turned back to its normal color and he blinked a couple of times.

"Idiots," Vergil muttered as he watched Johnny and Yosaku dance around while cheering loudly.

"It's working! He's recovering!" Johnny cheered. "Welcome back, partner!"

"You don't recover that quickly!" Nami snapped at the two.

"Don't bother Nami, idiots are idiots no matter what happens," Vergil tried to calm her down.

She just gave him a weak glare. "He's just going to fall over again," and in a few moments, after their introduction, he did just that.

Vergil's eyes widened slightly as he registered one word they mentioned. "Bounties? What did you mean by that?"

Johnny, though puzzled by the questioned pulled out some posters and handed them to Vergil. "If you hand one of these to the Marines you'll get their bounty," he said and pointed at the number at the bottom. Some had a few hundred thousand as their bounty, but some had a few millions. He flipped through the bounties and saw Buggy's bounty. "Fifteen million for Buggy?" he muttered and continued flipping. Or at least he would have if Nami didn't snatch the papers away. "What the?"

Nami didn't face him, she just gave the bounties back to Johnny.

Vergil frowned, though he finally found the solution.

_**~X~**_

When the night fell down the crew was once again gathered in the kitchen.

"Let this be a lesson to us," Nami said referring to Yosaku's condition.

The unfortunate man was lying in the kitchen, he was still looking quite sick.

"Yeah. These kinds of things can happen on a long trip," Zoro stated.

"Especially since we don't have much room for food on this ship," Usopp added, he was feeling slightly worried now about this entire thing.

"Speaking of which, we should really get somebody who'd know about this dietary business," Nami suggested, hoping that Luffy would finally use his brain and realize where they were all going.

Luffy being Luffy just munched on some bread while leaning on the table. "Dietary eh? I get it! We need a sea cook!" Luffy exclaimed and straightened up.

"Finally," the female thief let out a sigh of relief when she heard Luffy's proposition.

"Well he does have his moments," Vergil commented dryly.

"That's right! Then we'll have all sorts of delicious food to eat!" Usopp exclaimed earning a sweatdrop from Vergil, Zoro, and Nami, that's wasn't all they needed from the cook.

"EX-ACT-LY!" Luffy agreed happy to get some tasty food, or any food in general.

Well, at least the youngest pirates had the right idea about what they needed.

"If you are looking for such a cook I know where you could go," Johnny suddenly told them.

"Yeah, yeah. That's the spirit! Where would that be?" Luffy asked excited about the new nakama.

"But, it's pretty close to the Grand Line. And the man that big bro's been hunting for, Hawk Eyes is around there too."

Those words were enough to get Zoro excited as the swordsman clenched his swords and grinned.

"Its direction is north-northeast," Johnny pointed at the direction they were supposed to head out to. He turned around to see the five pirates grinning at him. "Our direction is, the Floating Restaurant, Baratie!"

_**~X~**_

Later that night, when everyone else was asleep and the anchor was dropped Vergil stepped out of the men's room. He went over to Nami's room and knocked.

"Give me a minute," she sounded a bit annoyed but after a minute he heard steps coming closer to her side of the doors. "What's wrong?" she looked puzzled, surprised to see him there.

"Mind if we talk for a bit?" Vergil requested and after she nodded and motioned him inside he smiled and followed.

* * *

_**And that's it. Not too many changes, just a few adjustments and a few new scenes. That's generally going to be true for Baratie as a whole. I didn't really have any major gripes with it, especially compared to Syrup village. Three more chapters and we'll reach Arlong Park. Quite frankly, I can't wait.**_

* * *

_**Answers on reviews:**_

_**SubZPhantomX – Thank you, well, there's also the fact that I kind of wrote these arcs three times, so yeah… Anyway, I intend to add more moments between the crew, like the one at the end.**_

_**JokerAka – It's fairly similar, though I never really went all that deep into his backstory, even in the first version. But the core elements are there.**_

_**Guest – Thank you.**_

_**Guest – Nope.**_

_**Sagicknight – One of the few things that remained generally the same as in the very first version.**_

_**scarlet rose white – Thank you, here is the next part.**_


	9. Baratie

_**Chapter 9 – Baratie**_

* * *

Vergil sat down on the chair in Nami's bedroom, the last time he was here she was having a nightmare. A nightmare that gave him a reason to search for some kind of way to help her. He sighed, not sure how or where to start. Would she shut him down immediately if he opened a bit too bluntly?

Nami, though sleepy, noticed the way he hesitated. "I'm not going to bite you," she then winked. "Unless you want me to."

Vergil rolled his eyes at the last part. "Hmm, you'll have to specify where first," he smirked though there was the tiniest tint of red to his cheeks.

Nami chuckled for a few moments, she certainly didn't expect that response. "Seriously though, just say it."

The smirk vanished and he nodded. "You mentioned you need a hundred million beri," he didn't miss the way she flinched at that. "So I was thinking we could catch some pirate and hand him over to marines. That ought to get you some money," he motioned towards her treasure chest. "You know; use what little time we have left before Luffy gets a bounty of his own."

Nami froze on her bed and for a moment Vergil feared she would just yell at him to leave. "Why would you-" her voice was surprisingly barely louder than a whisper.

Vergil looked her in the eye, her wide brown eyes were staring directly at him. "That nightmare you had a few nights ago is connected to that money, right?"

"Get out," she bit out, clearly he crossed the line.

"Nami, wait," he tried to calm her down but she was already on her feet. And she was shaking.

"Get out," she repeated and walked over to him. Her slender fingers gripped the collar of his shirt as she tried to pull him up and off her chair. "Get out," her eyes were closed and her voice was cracking just a bit.

He wasn't sure what to tell her, whatever was going through his head seemed either too cold or just too much. He stood up and allowed her to pretty much push him out while repeating the same two words. Each time her voice getting more and more emotional, more broken, and tired.

"Let us wake you up from that nightmare," he finally told her and she stopped.

The grip she had on his collar loosened up, but she was still holding on to it. Slowly she took a deep breath and leaned her forehead against him.

Up until now he never noticed just how thin and small she was compared to him, maybe she wasn't actually, but at the moment she looked so fragile.

Her left palm slipped down and she pressed it against his chest right next to her head. "What do you know?" she was shaking as she dug her fingertips into the fabric of his shirt, he could feel the nails against his skin.

Vergil raised his hands, contemplating whether or not to hold her, eventually, he just dropped them to his sides. "You're suffering, that's what I know," he sighed and heard her breath hitch. Was she holding back tears?

"Please, just please stop," he took a deep, shaky breath. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"

Vergil leaned the back of his head against the doors, he looked at the ceiling, not sure what to do right now. "Nami, you are my fr-"

"DON'T!" she actually screamed and even went as far as to grab the side of his neck, shutting him up immediately.

The surprise coupled with the nails digging right where they shouldn't, made him fall to the floor taking the orange-haired girl along.

Nami quickly stumbled back to her feet, looking horrified at her right hand and then at the tiniest scratches on Vergil's neck.

It was warm, she actually managed to draw blood on the left side and he found it difficult to even keep his eyes open for a few moments.

Realizing he was breathing heavily Nami went down to her knees and reached out to him but wasn't sure what to do. "I'll, I'll go get Luffy," she figured and just as she was about to go through the doors she felt Vergil grab her wrist with just enough strength to get her attention.

Vergil took a deep breath, though it made him flinch. "It'll be fine, just give me a minute," he assured her and stilled his head, as long as he didn't move for a bit he'd be fine. Nami reached forward and touched the scratch in the gentlest way possible, in the way that normally wouldn't even bother him. Maybe he wouldn't even notice it. Yet now it made him recoil like he was stabbed with a burning knife.

Nami, realizing she hurt him yet again, fell to her knees next to him and hugged him. She hid her face on his right side. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I didn't want to do that. I'm sorry," she whispered into his ear.

Vergil wrapped his arms around her, his right around her waist and his left one just below her shoulders. "It'll be fine, I promise you it's getting better already," he may have lied there a bit, it still hurt like hell. It wouldn't have if she didn't get through the skin, but since she did… "Still, finding the weak spot on a weak spot, that's just ridiculous," he chuckled a bit hoping to ease the tension. And it worked as Nami's shoulders weren't as stiff as they were when she hugged him.

"Yeah," she mumbled.

"I'm sorry as well, I should have stopped when I realized you weren't comfortable," he apologized as well.

Nami pulled back and looked him in the eyes. They were a bit teary, though she held back well, just like she did it a thousand times up until now. "Thanks, but, I can't accept your help," before he could speak again she pressed her finger against his lips. "I know that was part of our deal, but… it's not anymore. Believe me, I'm not here because of that."

Vergil smiled, the most honest, sincerest smile Nami saw up until that point. "Thank you," the pain was pretty much gone and he nearly jumped to his feet with Nami in his arms. "I'll see you in the morning," he placed her on her bed and took a few steps back, perhaps giving her one last chance to speak tonight. "Sweet dreams," he reached the doors again and stopped just for a few moments. "If you change your mind, I'm here," he assured her. "We all are," with that he waited for a couple of seconds, but when she didn't react he went and walked out.

When he was outside only one thought came to his mind, words said to him a decade ago. That he'll regret the day he finds people he cares about. And similar to how he felt when he realized he cared about Luffy he once again felt fear. Not for himself, but for his Nakama. Even now he knew, between his vow to Grom, to never create a second Devil Arm, and the lives of his crew he'd break the vow without a second thought. It terrified him, the idea of feeling so attached to others. It brought back the fear he didn't feel in so long.

_**~X~**_

Nami was basically hugging her pillow unsure for how much longer she could hold back her tears. She wanted to be happy again, she wanted to laugh again from the bottom of her heart and she genuinely wanted to do that with this crew. But she couldn't have that, could she? She had to go back to her village, she had to fight alone no matter how honestly Vergil offered his help to her.

"Bell-mére-san," she needed to be strong, she needed to get this out of her head before the morning. Otherwise, others would notice. Otherwise, Vergil would most certainly notice.

_**~X~**_

Roughly a day later the crew finally reached the restaurant and everyone but Yosaku stood on the upper deck.

Going Merry was approaching a large three-level ship; the appearance of the said ship had certain similarities to a fish, with a fish head as sort of a figurehead and a fishtail on the opposite side. The sails were raised and the restaurant steadily floated in the middle of the ocean. In this age of piracy, it almost felt as if a restaurant where you could eat out here in pretty much the middle of nowhere shouldn't exist, but it was right there in front of the crew.

"Whatcha guys think, guys?" Johnny dramatically asked, Luffy and Usopp drooled, Nami just smiled and Zoro and Vergil looked passive.

"Ooh! That's a big fish!" Luffy exclaimed, obviously he noticed those features before anything else.

"It's amazing," Nami agreed, though with a bit more contained enthusiasm.

"It really is," Usopp added nearly as excitedly as Luffy.

Yosaku poked his head out of the doors drooling as well.

"Amazing!" two youngest males exclaimed happily.

"Marines," Vergil simply said as he noticed a marine ship approaching from behind.

"What? Way out here?! Marine ship?!" Yosaku panicked and tried to hide.

"It didn't come all this way just to attack us?" Usopp asked with a slight amount of fear present in his voice.

"Even if they did they'll just lose," Vergil assured the sniper.

"Tch, I smell trouble," Zoro muttered, they were here just to eat and perhaps get a cook, it wouldn't be too much of a trouble but they didn't exactly need marines right now.

"Just out of the blue?" Nami questioned, behind her Johnny sneaked toward Yosaku.

Both ships sailed toward Baratie and Fullbody, a marine lieutenant, stepped out onto his ship's deck. "I've never seen your pirate flag before."

"Oh, no," Johnny cursed as he kept hiding behind the doors and then peeked along with Yosaku. "We aren't pirates, you know?"

"I'm a marine lieutenant, Iron Fist Fullbody. Hey, who is your captain, show yourself!" Fullbody demanded loudly.

"I am Luffy!" Luffy stepped out right away.

"I am the sniper, Usopp!" Usopp added proudly, even though no one asked for that information.

"Now that's more like it, sniper," Vergil commented to himself.

Luffy grinned. "Our pirate mark was just made a week ago!"

"I painted it on the sails!" Usopp added and once again he was telling the truth, he did for the most part paint the sails on his own.

Fullbody smirked. "What's with you people?" he mocked then turned a bit to the side and saw Johnny and Yosaku. "I've seen those two before, though. You claim to be pirate hunters, don't you?"

"W-What?" Johnny, insulted by the words stepped out of his cover looking irritated.

"It looks like you finally caught yourself some," Fullbody mocked fully aware that by the looks of it the opposite would be the more obvious conclusion.

"Listen to him Yosaku, I think this bro is mocking us," Johnny said confidently.

"It's not like we are going to make a single beri on him but let's beat him," Yosaku decided, the two attacked together only to get defeated in a matter of seconds.

"You two are really weak," Luffy commented.

"We'll get him easily," Yosaku tried to save their pride.

"Like usual it was hair-thin," Johnny added. Apparently, the two got into a habit of being delusional with the outcomes of their battles.

"What's with you two?" Zoro asked them, he didn't remember them as this weak, or perhaps he just got a lot stronger since the last time he saw them.

Nami's barely audible gasp caught Vergil's attention. He saw her holding a wanted poster, but he couldn't see most of it. He moved closer to her and saw the wanted pirate. A clearly not human fish-like pirate names Arlong.

"Hey, they are aiming at us!" Usopp exclaimed getting the attention of the rest of the crew.

"Leave it to me!" Luffy said as he prepared to take the cannonball on.

"Wait, Luffy!" Vergil shouted and quickly stepped in the way. He charged a lightning ball and shot it at the cannonball making it explode safe distance away from Merry. "We don't know where it would have gone," he explained his sudden interference.

Luffy tilted his head to the side, apparently thinking for a bit before giving Vergil a thumb up and a very wide grin. "You're right, nice Vergil."

"Good job Vergil, just as I instructed you," Usopp decided to get some spotlight as well.

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks for the instructions, in case you didn't know I can't read other people's minds so the next time you come up with instruction, do say them," Vergil teased with a playful smirk but then glanced at Nami who had calmed down to the point of looking like nothing had disturbed her. "Let's go to that restaurant," Vergil urged the crew. He wasn't sure whether he should try talking to Nami again.

"All right! Let's go!" Luffy cheered happily.

_**~X~**_

The crew, minus Johnny and Yosaku entered Baratie and sat at one of the tables.

One of the supposed waiters came and took the order which surprisingly had a lot of meat in it. The crew may have gotten into the restaurant but they certainly didn't expect to get both food and a show.

Sanji, a blond male with hair covering his left eye and strange swirly eyebrows, walked up to the table that Fullbody and Moodie occupied and elegantly poured the wine into their glasses. There was a cloth around the bottle making it impossible to read the name of the wine.

"Hm?" Fullbody looked a bit surprised at the taste of the wine. "This is exquisite," he exclaimed as he held his hand up, three of his fingers were unclenched pointing at the ceiling. "T-this taste," he gasped and then sniffed the wine. "This fragrance," by the time he said this all the eyes were upon him. "It's the fragrance of the Mitqueo City in the north. A bit sour, and a bit spicy. This wine is Wurzburger Stein!" Fullbody declared confidently.

Sanji placed the wine bottle on the table.

"Am I right, waiter?" Fullbody asked as Sanji removed the cloth.

Sanji grabbed his forearm making it relax and placed a spoon in his hand before closing the hand around it. "Sorry, but it's not, Sir," Sanji said shocking Fullbody. "Your soup is getting cold. Please enjoy it while it's still hot," Sanji told him and began walking away leaving the surprised duo. "By the way, I'm Assistant Head Chef, Sanji. All the waiters ran off after what happened yesterday," Sanji told him and with that, he left the marine with the feeling of embarrassment looming in the air of the restaurant.

The crew finished their meal a bit sooner then they hoped they would, due to certain someone taking anything on the table and eating.

"So good!" Luffy exclaimed happily.

"Heh, I' have to agree," Zoro said with a smirk on his face.

"Let's go, we'll come back for a lunch," Nami urged them.

"Go on, I'd like to relax a bit," Vergil said making her glance at him. "There's a decent show going on," He explained, smirking a bit as she shook her head in slight disbelief and stood up.

"Shishishi. Let's order more food," Luffy urged Vergil when the other three left.

"So that's why you stayed here," Vergil commented with a smirk. "Assistant Head Chef!" Vergil called.

Sanji walked up to the table pleasantly surprised that someone actually got it right.

"We'd like another portion of meat and make it really big; this guy has a bottomless pit for the stomach," Vergil said and motioned at his grinning captain.

"Were you with someone?" Sanji asked when he noticed three empty plates, clearly used by someone.

"Our Nakama," Luffy simply answered.

Sanji just brushed it off and glanced at Vergil's eyes. "Devils are rare guests around here. I don't think I'd need to use the fingers on my second hand to count the number of times I've seen one here," there was nothing in his tone that would suggest even the slightest fear or worry, he was simply stating the fact.

"Well, most devils don't pick this world for a vacation spot," Vergil stated. "Although, judging by your reaction I don't think you mind I'm a devil," he appreciated the difference in reaction. Humans that didn't start panicking over his identity were worthy of at the very least some amount of respect from him.

"As long as you don't cause problems. Everyone is a customer, human or devil," Sanji said and went to get the meat.

A bit later with the newly arrived meat devoured by the captain, the two pirates were pretty much lazing around. It was only when Fullbody slammed his fist down on the table and broke it that the two turned to watch.

"If you had just picked the bug out it would've been edible. I spent three full days and nights making this soup," Sanji stated, he was trying really hard and still barely suppressing his own anger.

Fullbody stepped onto his hand. "Should you have such an arrogant tone towards your customers?! I'm a customer! I paid you the money!" Fullbody raged.

Moodie went to him trying to stop the marine. "Stop it, Fullbody-san!" she begged but he pushed her to the floor.

"Shut up!" he snapped at her.

"F-Fullbody-san," she muttered, shocked at his outburst.

That finally did it for Sanji. Wasting food. Stepping on his hand. And now this shit of an oxygen waster dared to mistreat a lady. "Can money… fill your stomach?" Sanji asked. His tone was dangerously low and his eye was filled with rage.

"What?" Fullbody asked while still keeping his usual arrogance.

"I said can money fill your stomach?" Sanji repeated furiously and then gave in to his anger.

"I think we've got him Luffy, our new Nakama, and cook," Vergil said exactly what was on Luffy's mind.

"Shishishi. Yup," Luffy agreed.

Customers watched, rather surprised as blood dripped on the floor.

"F-Fullbody-san?" Moodie called out to the marine.

Cooks came down the stairs.

"Sanji," one of them muttered, by their reactions this wasn't the unusual occurrence.

"Assistant Head Chef!" another one called.

"Someone call the owner," one of the cooks quickly instructed knowing that the only one that could possibly stop Sanji was Zeff.

Sanji was holding Fullbody by the neck while the marine lieutenant bled. "Don't go ruining our food," Sanji stated. "Messing with a cook of the sea is a good way to get you killed. Remember that well."

Patty, a large man that pretty much looked like Popeye and Brutus combined came into the hall and saw Sanji holding Fullbody. "A customer!" he yelled. "You're at it again, Sanji? What are you doing to our customer? Isn't that a marine lieutenant?" Patty asked as he approached the blond male.

Sanji glanced at him. "Got a problem with that, shitty cook? Don't talk to me that way," Sanji dismissed him without a second thought.

"A shitty cook like you has no right to call me shitty," Patty hissed at Sanji. "To a restaurant, the customers are everything. Beating up our valuable customers, what do you think you are doing?" He demanded.

Sanji turned to look at Fullbody. "Customer or not, it's no different. This guy not only ruined our dishes, he also insulted its cook," Sanji let go of Fullbody who dropped down to the floor and just sat there. "That's why I thought I should teach him a lesson."

"What kind of restaurant is this? Do you treat all your customers like this? How does it even stay in business? I'll destroy it! I'll destroy your precious little restaurant! I'll destroy it! I'll contact my superiors right now!" with every word Fullbody said Sanji got angrier.

"I guess that means I can't let you leave this place alive," Sanji breathed out and began walking toward utterly scared Fullbody.

"Stop it Assistant Head Chef!" three cooks came up to him and tried to stop him from harming, or perhaps even more likely killing, Fullbody.

"Let go of me!" Sanji demanded. "He started it!"

"Stop it! Stop fighting Sanji!" another cook yelled at him.

"Just who do you think you are?! Huh?!" Sanji yelled at the now crying marine, there was no shame in those tears, Sanji right now looked furious.

"Hey, Sanji!" a voice suddenly boomed making Sanji ease down his struggle to get free. He glanced at the figure that was walking up to them. The man was an elderly looking, blond whose hair was kept under the extra-long chef's hat. He had extremely long mustaches that seemed to stick toward the sides in a somewhat weird way and a beard. He was wearing his chef's uniform with a blue ascot and white apron. He also had a peg leg instead of an actual right leg. This man was Zeff, the Head Chef of the Baratie. "Were you fighting in my restaurant again, you ingrate?"

Sanji stopped completely and stood to look at Zeff. "Shut up, old fart," despite Zeff's authority he spoke as if they were equals.

"What? Who do you think you're talking to?! You want to destroy my restaurant?!" Zeff scolded him. "You insolent boy!" with that Zeff kicked Sanji with the peg leg.

Fullbody smirked satisfied that Sanji was getting beaten. "You are another one! Get the hell outta here!" Zeff kicked Fullbody as well making the man fall down to the floor.

"It seems like 'Who celebrates too early, mopes all day' is true," Vergil commented with a smirk on his face.

"Shishishi, that's funny," Luffy laughed and then realized something. "Is that some devil saying?"

"Kind of," the devil responded as he watched Fullbody struggle to sit back up.

Suddenly a few marines ran in, clearly panicking if the looks on their faces were anything to go by. "L-Lieutenant! Lieutenant Fullbody!" one of the marines yelled, calling out to the beaten up marine. "We've got a problem!"

Luffy was kind of playing as he rocked back and forth on his chair. "This restaurant sure is lively," Luffy commented plus it had really tasty food so he was really happy.

"You could say that again, and it's only our first day here," Vergil agreed wondering what was going to happen next.

"The pirate Krieg's man has escaped!" the marine informed his superior.

"What?!" Fullbody asked loudly. One thing was clear, this day was just getting better and better.

"We thought he could've given us a lead on Krieg. We've already lost seven of our men!" the marine exclaimed while looking down ashamed.

"That's ridiculous! When we got him three days ago he was about to starve to death! And we haven't fed him yet, have we?" Fullbody asked incredulously.

The restaurant broke into muttering, though Luffy and Vergil had no idea why. Krieg's name really meant nothing to them.

"I'm really sor-" the marine tried to apologize but gun fired and the man dropped down dead. Customers ran off to try and hide as the prisoner stood at the doors. The combat commander of Don Krieg's pirates, Gin, was a relatively thin man of average height with scruffy, short hair, a scruffy beard, and a slight mustache. He had dark circles under his eyes and was wearing an open gray jacket with a red sea serpent design on each side with a green shirt underneath it. He also had a headband with blue and gray stripes and pants that matched the jacket. As the final detail, he had two spherical earrings on each ear.

Zeff, Sanji, Luffy, and Vergil simply watched the pirate.

"Another customer has arrived," Patty stated although he sounded anything but polite.

"He'd better not cause any more troubles in my restaurant," Zeff added, but he really didn't seem worried, in fact besides the seemingly permanent stern look on his face he seemed rather relaxed.

"Pirate, eh?" Luffy noticed as he and Vergil walked over to take a closer look.

"You two are still here?" Sanji asked, honestly he was surprised they didn't run as soon as the pirate shot the marine.

"Sure, is there really a reason for us to run?" Vergil replied with a question of his own.

Seeing as he was the devil Sanji thought for a brief second and decided that there really wasn't a reason. "I guess not."

Fullbody looked away in fear as Gin passed by him and sat down at one of the tables and raised one of his legs on it. "I don't care what it is. Bring me some food. This is a restaurant, isn't it?"

Patty was right away there. "Welcome, mere bastard," Patty mocked making the other customers gasp in fear.

"I'll say it only once more, so listen up. Bring me some food," Gin demanded, but try as much as he could, there was nothing he could do to make himself look like an actual threat. Even his gun wasn't much of a worry.

"He's gonna kill that cook," Fullbody muttered and when a shadow loomed over him he looked up and saw yellow eyes of the white-haired devil glaring at him.

"Actually, I'll electrify you if you don't scram it, and I mean now," Vergil threatened, making Fullbody scream and run away as quickly as he could. The devil really wasn't going to kill anyone, but Fullbody being there was repulsive, to say the least.

"I'm sorry Sir, but we'll be expecting you to pay for a meal here. Do you have enough money?" Patty asked as he rubbed the top of his head.

"Hm?" Gin glanced at Patty and pointed the gun at him "Is the bullet okay?"

Patty's expression changed right away from a polite one to a hostile one. "So I take it you don't have any money," in a flash Patty slammed his hands together and slammed them down onto Gin like a hammer. He also broke the chair Gin was sitting on.

"Why that Patty bastard broke one of my chairs!" Zeff said, he was clearly more irritated about the chair than anything else.

"Wow, what power," Luffy marveled.

"I'd be more impressed if his opponent could defend himself," Vergil commented, he wasn't exactly approving of the reasons behind Patty's attack.

Customers watched in awe and relief.

"If you don't have the money you can't eat!" Patty declared as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Way to go, Cook-san!" one of the female customers cheered while the other one whistled encouragingly.

"That pirate's nothing! Take him out Patty-san!" one of the cooks encouraged.

Gin's stomach growled as the pirate struggled with enduring his exhaustion, he couldn't just let it end in this restaurant.

"Oh, your stomach is growling there, you filthy pirate," Patty mocked. It was clear he felt no pity whatsoever for the pirate.

The pirate in question looked up toward Patty. "That was a fart. You jerk, hurry, and get me something to eat," Gin demanded.

"You are no customer! So get the hell outta here!" Patty yelled at him and kicked Gin again and again.

"All right that's enough. He clearly can't defend himself," Vergil said as he pulled Patty back.

"What was that? Don't interfere!" Patty yelled at him.

"I said that's enough," Vergil glared, his yellow eyes sending a clear message. He glanced at Luffy and saw that his captain was grinning.

As far as Luffy was concerned Vergil could do what he wanted to do, as long as he wasn't outright killing people.

Patty stepped back, normal pirates were one thing, but devils were completely different. The customers piped down out of fear.

"I don't need pity," Gin muttered as he glanced at the devil's eyes.

Vergil rolled his eyes at that. "It's not pity, I just don't like it when people cheer for someone's suffering," he grabbed Gin by the collar and dragged him outside, as it was there was no way he'd get food in a normal manner.

Luffy, while grinning from ear to ear, followed after his first mate.

Outside the trio decided to just take a bit of fresh air. Perhaps Vergil could convince Nami to lend him some money just to make sure Gin doesn't outright starve right in the restaurant.

"Damn him. How dare he..? Normally I wouldn't let anyone get away with that crap," Gin breathed out as he tried to stand up but fell down onto the deck.

"Hey, you are starving aren't you?" Luffy asked though the answer was quite obvious.

"S-Shut up! I am the least bit hungry," Gin denied even though his stomach chose that exact moment to growl, again.

"Denying it won't make the hunger go away. Cut it out," Vergil told him as he sat down and leaned against the railing while Luffy sat cross-legged on the railing.

The doors opened and Sanji came out carrying a plate of food and a glass of water. While Vergil and Luffy watched, he placed it in front of Gin.

Gin looked at the plate and then at Sanji who sat down next to Vergil and breathed out the smoke of his cigarette.

"Eat it," the cook simply told the starving pirate.

Gin gulped, struggling between eating the mouth-watering food or being too prideful to accept the mercy. "Shut up! Go away! This is worse! I won't accept charity! Take it away!" and the pride seemed to prevail at the moment.

"Don't be so tough. Just eat it already," Sanji told him sincerely. "To me, any hungry person is a customer."

Gin looked away. "I, I can't pay for it," it was a restaurant, he wasn't sure what he was thinking when he believed they'd just give him food.

Sanji sighed and looked up. "The vast ocean can be very cruel. It's awful to not have any food or water. Just awful… I understand starving people more than anyone. I don't care if you want to die with dignity. But if you eat up, you'd be able to look forward to a new tomorrow, won't you?" Sanji lectured him and took a deep breath as cigarette smoke filled his lungs, he didn't even look at Gin, he merely looked at the sky, perhaps reminiscing about something in his past.

Gin gasped, then gulped and finally relented. He dug in and began eating while crying. "This is so delicious. So delicious. It's too delicious. I thought I was going to die! I thought I was a goner," he continued eating. After a few moments, he stopped again. "Delicious, so delicious. I've never had such a good meal in my whole life."

Sanji smirked at the words. "It's shitty delicious, eh?"

"Shishishi. Well, now we really found our cook!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Looks like it," Vergil agreed with a small smile on his face.

"Hey, aren't you lucky? If he hadn't given you something to eat. Shishishishi! It'd be all over for you by now," he then turned to Sanji. "Hey, Cook, become my Nakama," Luffy invited the confused Sanji. "You'll be the cook on our pirate ship," Luffy decided.

"Huh?" Sanji and Gin responded together.

"Don't even bother. It's kinda like the first order," Vergil assured Sanji. "Anyway was that old guy a pirate once?" he asked curiously. The disregard for marines was one hell of a clue, but he wasn't sure.

"He was. On a notorious pirate crew as well," Sanji simply replied.

"Ah, so that old guy was a pirate," Luffy said with a grin as he looked up.

"For that old fart. This restaurant is worth more than any treasure. And those cooks who came after his fame were once fierce pirates. Well the pirates in these parts often come to this place," Sanji explained, there wasn't much of a reason to do so, but since the pirates struck that conversation he might as well tell them that much.

"Yeah, this place never seems to have a dull moment," Luffy pointed out.

"It's not bad. I'm used to it. Recently, most people only come to see the brawl between pirates and cooks. But thanks to that it scares away all the part-time waiters," Sanji told them.

"Hey, join us," Luffy invited again thus getting Sanji's attention back on the topic of joining and through that leaving this restaurant.

"I refuse. I have my reasons why I must remain here," Sanji replied believing that this boy would just give up and leave it at that. He didn't have the slightest idea of who he was dealing with.

Luffy dropped down a bit and came face to face with Sanji, though he was upside down. "No! I refuse!" he made an absolutely, blatantly ridiculous statement.

The blond cook backed away a bit. "About what?" Sanji asked.

Luffy went back to his previous position. "I refuse your refusal. You are a good cook so come with me and be a pirate."

"Hey now, you listen to me," Sanji demanded.

"So what's this reason of yours?" Luffy asked.

"I don't need to tell that to you!" Sanji argued not fully realizing that he just contradicted himself to a certain extent.

"You told us to listen," Vergil and Luffy pointed out at the same time.

"I meant that you must accept my decision!" Sanji snapped as he got angry. "You'd better watch out or I'll gut you like a fish, you straw hat bastard!"

"What did you say?! Don't insult my hat unless you are picking a fight, you bastard!" Luffy argued back.

"Just give it up Sanji. 'Be my Nakama' is the first order you get," Vergil tried to ease Sanji's struggles, to simply make him understand quicker for everyone's sake.

"I refuse!" the cook snapped again.

"Sorry to interrupt, but," Gin began; he was still sitting on the deck, although he now looked much better.

"What is it?!" Luffy and Sanji snapped at him at the same time.

"I'm a part of the Krieg Pirates. The name's Gin. So you're pirates too, eh? What are your goals?" he asked out of curiosity.

"I'm looking for One Piece! I'm headed for the Grand Line," Luffy answered right away.

Gin's eyes widened. "You are still looking for a cook. Your crew must be quite small," Gin guessed.

"Yeah. We've got six, counting him," Luffy stated while pointing at Sanji.

"Why the hell are you counting me?!" Sanji demanded angrily.

"Because you'll join," Vergil answered confidently.

"You look like decent guys, so let me give you a piece of advice. You'd better not go to the Grand Line. You're still young. There is no need to rush. The Grand Line is only a small part of the world's vast oceans. If you want to be a pirate there are many less intimidating places," Gin warned them, they helped him, there was no need to let them go to their deaths without at least saying something to try and persuade them not to do it.

"Oh, I see. So, do you know anything about the Grand Line?" Luffy asked, his smile was clearly saying that he wouldn't change his mind.

"No, I don't know anything about it. Nothing, nothing at all. That's why it's so scary," Gin admitted as he held the right side of his head.

"Are you really one of the dreaded Krieg's man? I don't think he'd hire such chickens," Sanji commented.

"Krieg?" Luffy repeated the name.

They didn't know it but Krieg would be someone they'd soon get the chance to meet personally.

_**~X~**_

Gin has gotten himself a small boat and was ready to leave. "Later then," he told the trio.

"I'm still going to the Grand Line," Luffy said to him, even with what Gin said there was still no doubt in Luffy's mind that the Grand Line was where he wanted to go.

The older pirate sighed, lowered his head for a moment, and then looked at Luffy again. "Yeah, do what you want. We are strangers so I have no right to stop you. I just thought I should warn you," Gin accepted it; he accepted the lack of influence on the younger rookie pirate. So he turned to Sanji. "Oh, and Sanji-san. Thank you very much. You saved my life. That fried rice was the best. Can I come again?" he asked. There was a grin on his face.

"Anytime," Sanji replied with a smirk on his face.

"So here you are," they heard Zeff saying from higher deck. The older cook glanced over at the empty plate.

"Get going, Gin," Sanji told the pirate when he noticed that Gin was hesitating.

Gin had an apologetic look on his face as he placed his palm over part of it. "I'm sorry. You are gonna get in trouble for letting me eat for free," he sincerely apologized.

"Whatever," Sanji said and walked up to the empty plate and the glass. He knew Zeff was watching him as he picked them up and threw them in the ocean. "Now they don't have any proof, do they?" Sanji asked casually.

Gin looked ready to cry again but held the tears in.

Luffy and Vergil grinned at this.

"Don't get caught again, Gin," Sanji advised him. He didn't really care much, but Gin didn't look like a particularly bad pirate.

Gin was on his knees bowing down to Sanji. "Thank you, Sanji-san. I won't forget this."

Trio watched the boat disappear into the distance.

"Sanji, get back to work," Zeff urged him.

With Sanji back inside there really wasn't much for the two pirates to do. "How about we go back to Merry, others are waiting for us," Vergil suggested.

"Shishishi. We'll get Sanji later," Luffy agreed and the two went back to Merry while Sanji went back to work.

_**~X~**_

Later that day the crew was back in Baratie having a rather rich lunch, all kinds of seafood and meat was laid in front of them on the table. At least in the beginning and they would probably enjoy it even more if Luffy wasn't eating everything he got his hands on, again.

"Cut it out Luffy!" Zoro had enough and pinned Luffy's hand to the table with a fork.

"Why did you do that?! You bastard!" Luffy demanded as he released his hand from the evil clutches of the fork.

"Because you are eating all our food!" Zoro argued with him and then smirked in satisfaction as he saw Luffy rubbing his now free hand.

While the swordsman wasn't looking the rubber captain picked at his nose and dropped the booger into Zoro's water. "Take that," he muttered, pouting slightly as he glanced at the food in Zoro's plate. It was off-limits right now, but soon enough, it would be in his stomach.

Nami and Usopp struggled not to laugh while Vergil grinned at the immature act of the crew's captain.

Zoro brought the glass to his mouth and then suddenly without any indication that he was going to do it forced the water down Luffy's throat. "You drink it!" he snapped at his captain.

"Why did you do that?!" Luffy asked while Nami and Usopp laughed, even Vergil had to chuckle a bit.

Luffy was trashing on the ground clenching at his throat while Zoro stood in front of him "You too. What are you trying to pull?" the swordsman questioned, though it looked more like an actual interrogation.

"My stomach's aching!" Luffy complained, the laughter around him was yet to cease.

Most of the restaurant was watching the laughing crew and of course, it got Sanji's attention as well. "Man, they are noisy. Are they the crew of those two?" he muttered into his chin while ignoring the growling man at the table. The man was probably growling because he was flirting with his partner. Either way, Sanji's eye fell on Nami and he was left stunned. He gave the bottle to the customer. "Pour it yourself."

Well, all of a sudden a rose appeared next to Nami along with its holder, none other than now kneeling Sanji. "O' Mother Ocean! Thank you for arranging this encounter today!" Sanji exclaimed making the laughter stop and Nami back away a bit. "Oh, my love!" he dramatically buried his face in his palm and shook his head slightly. "Go on, laugh at me! I, who can't bear the torture! As long as I'm with you it matters not if I am a pirate or a devil," he removed his hand to reveal a bright heart instead of his eye. "My heart's as ready as can be!" he exclaimed loudly.

Luffy was grinning in a bit of an uneasy way while Zoro looked annoyed, not because Sanji was flirting with Nami, but because he deemed this kind of behavior annoying. Vergil rolled his eyes and folded his arms, he wasn't sure why but there was the slightest bit of annoyance caused by Sanji.

Sanji stood up, his arms spread in a dramatic manner. "But this is horrible!" he pressed one fist against his chest while the other one remained half raised at his side. "There's such a great obstacle between us!"

Peg leg tapped the floor. "The obstacle is me, right? Sanji," Zeff interrupted, his arms were folded across his chest and Sanji's flirty demeanor ceased.

"The old fart," the blond cook muttered.

"This is great. Why don't you just run off with them and become a pirate?" Zeff suggested making Sanji turn to him. "We don't need you here anymore," Zeff told him, perhaps a bit harshly.

Sanji gritted his teeth and turned his full attention to Zeff. "Hey, old fart! Ain't I the Assistant Head Chef? What's that crap about not needing me here?" Sanji demanded, he was slowly but surely losing his patience with the way Zeff was treating him.

"You always fight with our customers. You flirt with any beautiful woman in sight. And you make lousy food. You are nothing more than a burden to this restaurant! That's what I mean," Zeff told him, and out of all the things, one crossed the line.

Sanji was reaching his limit, for all the effort he put into it Zeff dared to call his food lousy. "What the…?!" Sanji hissed and then looked up to see other cooks laughing at him.

"The other cooks don't like you anyway. Why don't you just become a pirate or whatever you please? Why don't you just get the hell outta here?!" Zeff questioned, at the moment it truly wasn't clear what the man was trying to do, clearly he kept Sanji as a cook and in a very high position as well, but here he was saying Sanji's food was lousy and he should leave. It didn't make much sense as he was the owner; he could under normal circumstances simply kick Sanji out.

So the entire dynamic between the two was obviously confusing to anyone paying attention to it from the sidelines.

"What's that crap?" Sanji was on the edge of his nerves while the Straw Hats watched the scene in front of them. "I didn't do shit and now you're blowing your head off, old fart?" Sanji began walking toward Zeff. "I don't care about your other excuses but I will not allow my cooking to be insulted. I don't care what you are going to say. I'm going to stay here and work as a chef!" he actually went and grabbed Zeff by the collar. "If you don't like it it's your problem!"

"How dare you hit your own boss!" Zeff proved that he was far from pushover when he grabbed Sanji's hand and set himself free from the younger cook's grasp. "You stupid eggplant!" Zeff threw Sanji and he crashed into the table the Straw Hats were sitting at, luckily the five pirates took the plates before Sanji could ruin the food along with the table.

"Damn it," Sanji cursed under his breath as he sat up. "Are you kidding?! No matter how hard you may try I'm gonna stay right here as a chef! 'Till the day you go to hell!" Sanji declared no longer caring about anyone else listening to him.

"I won't die. I'll live another 100 years!" Zeff said as he slowly walked away.

"What a stubborn old man," Sanji muttered, he looked to the side trying to keep his emotions in check. And then someone comes in and pats him on the back.

"Isn't it great that he gave you his blessing! Now you can come with us and-" Luffy happily exclaimed, but didn't get a chance to finish.

"Like hell!" Sanji snapped thus interrupting the rubber man that was bound to become his captain.

"Just give in, it'll save everyone the trouble," Vergil joined in.

"Shut it, shitty devil!" Sanji snapped yet again.

Soon enough the table was set once again and Sanji placed a colorful fruit salad in a glass in front of Nami while pouring juice at the same time. "Please pardon me for what has happened. As an apology I've ordered you a Fruit Macedonia, my Princess," Sanji said, he was obviously back to flirting.

"Why, thank you," Nami thanked him happily. "You are so kind."

"It's nothing," Sanji sweetly told her.

Usopp jumped to them angrily. "What's this? You're not apologizing to us! I'll sue you, you love cook!" Usopp threatened.

"I've brought you some tea, isn't that enough? You should thank me, long nose," Sanji stated as they stood rather close to each other.

"Huh? Wanna fight? I won't go easy on you," Usopp declared then turned to Zoro. "Get him! Zoro!"

"Do it yourself," Zoro sweatdropped.

"Please don't fight over me!" Nami pleaded them innocently.

"Very well madam, I'll stop," Sanji swooned.

"Who's fighting over you?!" Usopp yelled.

"By the way," Nami began; she was starting to get flirty as well, though her reason was vastly different from Sanji's.

"Huh?" Sanji was listening to her every single word.

"The food here is great, but… It's a bit expensive for me," She said as she caressed his chin to further entice him.

Judging by the heart in his eye she was clearly doing a good job. "Of course, it's free for you." Sanji easily fell into her trap.

"She has him wrapped around her little finger," Vergil sighed, he knew Nami was fairly good at getting people to do what she wanted, but this wasn't just her charm.

"Thank you!" Nami thanked him and hugged the blond cook.

Sanji gasped out of pure happiness. "You guys have to," he said completely seriously to the four males. In fact, the obvious shift in his personality when speaking to the male part of the crew was amazing

Vergil's eye twitched at that.

"I already saw that coming," Zoro muttered.

"Shishishi. That's our cook!" Luffy exclaimed only to get kicked by Sanji.

"How many times do I have to refuse until you get it?!" Sanji snapped at him.

_**~X~**_

Four mornings later Vergil woke up and before he could even open his eyes properly let out a groan. His entire body was aching, protesting at every little move he made, especially breathing, that really seemed to hit the spot in a really bad way. Since it did have something to do with his throat and anything concerning his neck was coincidently everything he wanted to avoid at the moment.

_'Well, that wasn't my brightest idea,'_ finally, the white-haired devil forced his body to move; first, he sat up and then slowly got to his feet. Looking around, though that caused quite a lot of pain to course through his neck, he realized his crew was already at Baratie, probably having their breakfast. The memory was quite foggy but he remembered Luffy trying to wake him up and Zoro explaining the situation.

As uncomfortable as he was with the idea he rolled his neck and stretched a bit before going to the bathroom to freshen up a bit.

Ten minutes later he entered Baratie and quickly located his crew, as he guessed they were having breakfast.

"Hey sleepyhead about time you showed up," Nami teased when she saw him only to have her egg stolen by their captain right underneath her nose. "Damn it, Luffy!" she yelled as the rubber man munched on the delicious food.

"Good morning to you too," Vergil muttered as he sat down, clearly he wasn't completely awake just yet as evidenced by the slightly sleepy tone of his voice.

"What were you even doing last night?" Usopp asked with a raised eyebrow between the bites. "Zoro told us you were training and you nearly collapsed from exhaustion."

"Wait really?" that was new to Nami who wasn't there when Luffy tried to wake Vergil up. "You should be more careful."

Vergil grinned at the slight concern she was showing there. "Don't worry about it," he then turned to Usopp. "I just overexerted myself a bit, " he absentmindedly picked some food and placed it on his plate.

He didn't eat much, just a regular portion and even then it looked like he was forcing the bites through his throat. "I'm going back to the ship," Vergil stood back up once he finished his meal. He needed to sleep some more.

"Be careful," Zoro warned him, it didn't look like he'd fall or anything but he did look exhausted.

Vergil dropped onto his hammock and his body sort of just shut down for a few hours, what finally woke him up was an orchestra of screams coming from Baratie. He opened his eyes and rolled his neck a bit. The fatigue was gone and he felt good, really good once again.

He came out and noticed there was a large, heavily damaged galleon next to Baratie.

The only one clearly eager to go and check out the situation was Zoro and he was just about to leave when he noticed Vergil.

Zoro smirked, noticing the much better state Vergil was in, the sleep obviously helped him. "Want to check things out?" he motioned towards the restaurant.

"Sure. Is it Krieg?" Vergil guessed, all things considered, that was the most likely option.

"Looks like that," Zoro replied.

"We don't h-have to; y-you know?" Usopp argued fearfully, he didn't know too many pirates, but he sure knew who Krieg was.

Vergil smirked at that. "Actually you're the one that needs to be over there the most," the casual tone made Usopp freak out even more and Vergil knew it.

"WHAT?!" the long-nosed sniper shrieked and took a few steps back with his arms raised up.

Zoro raised an eyebrow, sure he knew Usopp needed some courage boost and he would need it really fast, but he didn't really see a point in whatever Vergil was trying to accomplish.

"Relax; you're not going to be on the front line. I told you before, you're a sniper and Baratie could provide a perfect way for you to learn something," Vergil assured calmly, he wasn't going to force Usopp into this. "Luffy, Zoro, and I will keep you safe and if anyone gets close you'll have Johnny and Yosaku with you as well just in case," he added when he saw that Usopp still wasn't all that certain of the idea.

"Us?!" Johnny and Yosaku screamed.

Vergil simply smirked at them. "Don't tell me you strong pirate hunters can't beat a few pirates?"

That seemed to touch a nerve as the two bounty hunters puffed their chests.

"Don't mock us Vergil-aniki," Johnny warned as dangerously as he could.

"Yeah, we caught many pirates," Yosaku added.

"Splendid, then you can be bodyguards for a short while," the devil didn't exactly leave them with a chance for argument as he turned to Zoro and Usopp.

"And what about the ship?" Zoro asked, if things got out of hand it could be in danger.

Vergil's eyes met with Nami's. "Could you sail it a safe distance away from Baratie if needed?" the idea came out of blue, but if someone could control this ship alone it was Nami. She was smart, if she figured it would be safer if she escaped and then came back an hour or two, maybe even three hours later than she would do it.

Nami smiled and nodded. "Of course I can, but wait there just a minute," she requested and went to men's room.

Zoro and Vergil looked at each other, sure they could wait, but Nami going to their room was strange, to say the least.

A minute later Nami walked up to him and offered him the machete he left in men's room last night.

Vergil blinked a couple of times and looked at his hip; he just realized that it was missing. Perhaps he was still a bit sleepy. Wordlessly he took it from Nami and looked at the blade in his hand. For a moment he looked at Nami and then closed his eyes letting the portion of his energy, of his soul, course through the blade. When he opened his eyes he reached out for her right hand.

Nami blinked a few times when she realized he was giving her his machete back. The devil placed the hilt of his machete in her hand and gently closed her hand around it with his right hand.

"Just in case. Keep it with you," he explained.

"Thanks," she didn't know how to use it properly, but it would be useful without a doubt. It wasn't heavy and it wasn't that much bigger than a regular knife.

Then he turned around and joined Zoro and the others leaving no space for arguments. "Let's get going," he addressed the other four males and jumped down onto Johnny and Yosaku's boat.

Zoro glanced at Nami and then proceeded to follow Vergil along with Johnny and Yosaku.

"All right Nami, we'll leave Merry to you," Usopp grinned at her and followed after the others, though he, like Johnny and Yosaku, took the rope ladders.

Nami looked at the machete and sighed. She realized that her only way of escape was now that Going Merry was in her complete control. All things considered there was a high chance the crew would go after her to take back the ship. But clearly, she had no other choice, so she would just have to cross that bridge once she got to it. "I'm sorry," she muttered, fighting back the tears.

_**~X~**_

When Vergil and Zoro walked down the stairs to where Luffy and Sanji were they were met with a burst of confidence and courage as cooks declared they would put up a fight against Krieg.

"Color me impressed," Vergil commented and leaned against the railing to observe the cooks.

Luffy grinned at the duo. "Hey! Vergil, Zoro!"

"How did you get there?!" Patty clearly had a nerve to just yell at a devil like that.

"Through the back window," Zoro replied just for the heck of it.

Gin looked at the almost laid back pirates and the ridiculously reckless cooks. He finally had enough and slammed his palms on the floor. "What are you all doing?! Didn't you see how strong our leader is?!" Gin tried to persuade them into leaving, if for nothing else then to prevent the bloodshed.

"Hey, Gin!" Sanji stopped his attempt and turned the pirate's attention to himself. "Feeding the hungry is what being a cook is all about. However," he placed his foot on the table leg and in one swift motion made it stand as it should; he then partly sat on it. "Now that your captain is all filled up he's nothing more than a plunderer. Whatever I do to your pals, don't come bitching at me. I'll kill anybody who tries to take this restaurant! Even you! Got that?"

At the rather clear threat, Gin gulped.

"Heh. You saved his life just so you could kill him off. You are so thoughtful, Sanji," Patty commented while smirking at the blond cook.

"Shut up, shitty cook," Sanji told him.

"See? Didn't I tell you that he was something?" Luffy asked Zoro and Vergil as he pointed at Sanji and then turned to Gin. "Gin! You said once before that you knew nothing about the Grand Line, right? But you've been there, haven't you?" Luffy asked, eager to find out anything about the Grand Line.

The combat commander gulped clearly not happy to remember those days. "The truth is I don't know anything. What happened at the Grand Line on the seventh day, was it a dream? Or reality? It's still fresh in my eyes. It was unbelievable, just one man, destroyed a whole fleet of 50 ships!" Gin revealed.

Patty and Carne yelped.

Sanji gritted his teeth in shock.

Zoro looked surprised.

So did Luffy.

Vergil had a grin on his face. "Impressive."

"WHAT?!" the cooks cried out.

"It all happened so suddenly. He showed up out of nowhere and started sinking our ships one after another. If a storm hadn't come along, our maiden ship would've been destroyed too. I have no idea how many of my mates' ships survived. But it was too scary for me to accept it all. I don't want to even think about what had happened!" everyone was watching Gin as he told them the details. "That man! His stare pierces through you, like the eyes of a hawk!"

This got Zoro's attention to a whole new level. "What?" he asked. "What did you say?"

"That guy. He must be the man known as 'Hawk Eyes'. The fact that you noticed his eyes, leads me to believe that it was him. It all sounds like something he would do," Zeff revealed and confirmed Zoro's suspicions.

"The Hawk Eyes Man!" Zoro breathed out, he could fell his heart beating fast as excitement coursed through his blood. Hawkeye was there perhaps even closer to the beginning of the Grand Line than he had originally imagined.

"Eh, you know that guy, Zoro?" Luffy asked when he noticed the state his swordsman was in.

At Luffy's words, Zoro calmed down. "Ah. That's the man I've been looking for. I sailed across the ocean in search of him."

"Maybe he had some kind of grudge to settle with you guys," Sanji suggested a logical explanation.

"Not that I know of," Gin replied.

"Perhaps you disturbed his nap," a rather silly but most likely the good guess came from Zeff.

"Stop the bullshit! Why in the world would he destroy our fleet just for that?!" Gin demanded angrily. He refused to believe that all that bloodshed was caused by something as stupid as that

Zeff on the other hand grinned. "Don't get so worked up. I'm just making assumptions. Stuff like that happens at the Grand Line."

Zoro noticed the way Luffy trembled and for a moment he was worried about what was happening. "Luffy?" Zoro called out to the trembling captain.

"Gah! I'm so pumped up! I was hoping that Grand Line would have all this!" Luffy exclaimed happily.

That seemed to please Zoro a lot. "And with all this talk my destination will really be the Grand Line. That man," Zoro stated as he leaned against the wall. "I can definitely meet him there!"

"Are you morons?" Sanji asked. "You must be those who are eager to die."

"That's right. But that's none of your business. When I decided to become the World's Greatest Swordsman, I threw away the rest of my life. I'm the only one who can say that I'm an idiot," Zoro told him.

"Me too! Me too!" Luffy agreed happily.

"Isn't it better to live without regrets than to live your life thinking 'I could have at the very least tried'. I don't know what's the deal with you, but don't make me lose my respect for you. Such words are not fitting for someone who goes against the will of the entire restaurant just to follow his belief," Vergil stated with a stern look in his eyes.

"Fools," Sanji said but one could easily see that he was having a debate with himself.

Zeff smiled at this.

"Hey, hey. Do you bastards realize what's going on here? Don Krieg's ship is right in front of the restaurant! Do all the talking after we are all out of this mess!" Patty yelled at them.

And as if to prove the point only a few moments later the cooks and three of the Straw Hats could hear Krieg's pirates.

"Here they come! I can hear them," one of the cooks exclaimed.

_**~X~**_

Pirates were approaching closer and closer.

"Run in fear, you cooks!" they yelled.

Out of blue the ship was cut in half. The pirates tried to hold on but they some of them were falling into the sea.

"What?!" Luffy exclaimed as he and the others looked utterly shocked, some by destructive force and some by what just happened.

Hell, even Zeff looked surprised.

"What the hell happened?!" Krieg demanded as he tried to find the culprit.

"Don Krieg! The ship has split in half!" one of the pirates screamed.

The look of horror came across Krieg's face. "Split in half?! 'Split in half' you say?! My biggest ship! No way! That's impossible!"

The Baratie wasn't getting out of this without any troubles, the ship rocked back and forth and cooks could barely stand.

"Go hoist the anchor! Or our ship will get pulled under like them!" Zeff quickly ordered.

As one of the cooks went to do as Zeff ordered Luffy began running toward the doors.

"This is bad. Nami is still on our ship!" Zoro realized and jumped over after Luffy.

Vergil on the other hand quickly ran upstairs to where Usopp, Johnny and Yosaku were hiding. Immediately upon entering the large bedroom used by the cooks, Vergil was met with Usopp quickly grabbing a hold of him and it didn't look like he was going to let go as he hid behind Vergil.

"W-What was that?! This wasn't part of the plan Vergil!" he screamed directly into the devil's ear.

Vergil rolled his eyes but allowed the sniper to hold on to him a bit longer. "Plan isn't changing, just stay here and don't let anyone notice you. I'm not going to let anything happen to you so calm down."

Usopp nodded and while his grip on Vergil did loosen up a bit it was still there.

"Usopp, you're safe with us, rely on us so we can rely on you. That's a crew," the devil stated and walked over to one of the windows, the one he would be able to see Merry from, if it was there that is. "Good, I'm not sure how long it'll take Nami to come back but whatever hell is about to break loose here, at least we won't have to worry about Merry."

"Y-Yeah," Usopp agreed and slowly let go of Vergil.

_**~X~**_

The cooks and other pirates had a bigger issue so to speak when 'Hawk Eyes' finally joined in. Dracule 'Hawk Eyes' Mihawk, the World's Greatest Swordsman… He was a tall lean man with black hair, a short beard, mustache, and sideburns that pointed upwards. His eyes heavily resembled those of a hawk and were only a bit darker than Vergil's yellow eyes.

Zeff's eyes widened. "It's him."

Zoro turned to him and then toward Mihawk, once his eyes fell on the man his heartbeat became quicker and his eyes widened.

"That son of a bitch. He followed us!" Krieg exclaimed when he too recognized Mihawk.

"It can't be. He is, the man with the Hawk Eyes?!" Zoro breathed out. He looked like everything else was forgotten to him; his eyes wavered as he looked at Mihawk. "That man is," he gulped down as his heart started picking up the speed again. "That man is…"

Luffy noticed the way Zoro was reacting to Mihawk. "Zoro, who the heck is he?" he asked as he also looked at Mihawk.

"The man I've been searching for, Hawk Eyes Mihawk," Zoro told him. An animalistic amount of excitement was obvious in his voice.

"Hawk Eyes Mihawk?" Luffy repeated and then noticed Vergil walking up to them.

"Nami and Merry are safe, she'll come back," Vergil informed the captain and noticed the state Zoro was in, all things considered, he guessed a lot of that was connected to the newly arrived swordsman.

Zoro's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the ever so calm swordsman. "The strongest swordsman in the world."

* * *

_**The next chapter will be up on Wednesday and the last Baratie chapter will be up on Friday. So yeah, we're now about halfway done with this arc and soon enough comes the big arc of this saga. Next up, well, you all know what's next. Review to keep me motivated. **_

* * *

_**Answers on reviews:**_

_**Guest – Well, here it is.**_

_**Guest – Thank you.**_

_**Sagicknight – Yeah, here's a talk.**_

_ **V: You sure didn't take pity on me at all.**_

_**Guest – I haven't really decided on that yet.**_

_**JokerAka – Two chapters to go and then we'll be there.**_

_**C.S. Skywalker – I guess I was bound to learn that I should focus more on Vergil by now, I mean after rewriting the story so many times.**_

_ **V: Author can I get a dog? Please?**_

_ …**Uh… Fun fact, when I first created Vergil he was accompanied by a demon dog I named Blaiddmon and that's one character that didn't survive the flow of time. He was basically Vergil's moral compass and as things went on he became more of an obstacle I needed to force in than character that brought something new to the story. Now, Vergil could get a dog, but that doesn't necessarily mean he will. It all really depends on few things I would need to settle before going with that route. Although there is a certain demon animal that will definitely make an appearance.**_

_ **V: Fairly soon actually.**_


	10. Zoro falls, the overwhelming difference

_**Chapter 10 – Zoro falls, the overwhelming difference**_

* * *

Vergil watched the strongest swordsman and felt a shiver run down his spine; this human was completely out of their league.

"That's the guy who instantly sank Krieg's fleet of 50 ships that were supposed to withstand the Grand Line!" Patty exclaimed as he and other cooks watched.

"And he just destroyed another one!" Carne added.

"But he looks no different than any other normal person. And he doesn't seem to be armed with anything special," one of the cooks said, he found it hard to believe that someone so normal looking could be so strong.

"His weapon is on his back," Zeff informed him.

"No way! You can't mean? He destroyed that huge ship with that sword?!" Carne asked, still finding it impossible, but he guessed if someone would know it would be Zeff.

"He's the great swordsman, Hawk Eyes Mihawk. The swordsman above all of the world's swordsmen," Zeff stated.

Finally, Mihawk lifted his head up a bit and revealed the yellow hawk-like eyes.

'_I never thought I'd be able to meet him this soon_,' Zoro gulped down the lump that formed in his throat. '_The destined time has finally come,'_ he gripped the Wado Ichimonji ready to face the man that stood between him and his goal, between him and the title of the world's strongest swordsman.

"Bastard!" one of the pirates yelled at Mihawk. "Why did you attack us?!"

Mihawk turned a bit to the side to glance at the pirate. "To kill time," it was a simple reason for a simple action, nothing more, nothing less.

The pirate was downright enraged as he pulled out two guns and pointed them at Mihawk. "Bullshit!" he yelled and fired.

Mihawk took his sword, pointed it toward the pirate, and just as the bullets reached the sword he slightly changed its angle making the bullets miss.

"It deviated," Zoro said making the pirate yelp and look at him. "He redirected it with the tip of his sword."

"That's ridiculous!" the pirate argued but Zoro just walked past him. "Hey! Who the hell are you?!"

"Swords, three of them! Could it be…?" one of the pirates realized as Zoro smirked at Mihawk.

"I've never seen such graceful skill," Zoro commented thus getting some of Mihawk's attention.

Mihawk looked toward him. "A sword with power alone is not powerful."

"So this ship was cut apart with that sword too?" Zoro asked merely to get a confirmation.

"Of course," the reply was short but had all it needed.

"It's clear now! You're the strongest!" Zoro said, his smirk widened and the excitement ran through his veins. "I've been sailing the seas to face you."

"What are you aiming for?" Mihawk asked still not entirely focused on Zoro, it appeared that he was merely humoring the green-haired swordsman.

"To be the best!" Zoro declared as he tied his bandanna around his head.

Mihawk smirked. "Fool."

Zoro ignored the comment and unsheathed Wado Ichimonji before pointing it at Mihawk "You've got time to spare, don't you? Let's duel, shall we?" he challenged. It was a bold, obviously foolish challenge, but it was necessary.

"Are you sure you shouldn't interfere, he could get killed," Sanji said to Luffy and Vergil, however, two pirates just watched the scene in front of them.

Mihawk didn't seem nearly as interested. "Duel? Hm. Such a pitiful weakling."

At the comment, Zoro just glared at Mihawk.

The world's strongest swordsman appeared on the same part of the broken deck as Zoro in a moment. "If you really were a fine swordsman, you should've been able to judge the difference in strengths without drawing your sword. Challenging me? Are you that brave? Or simply reckless?" Mihawk asked though he still didn't care much about his challenger.

"This is for my own ambition!" Zoro replied and then placed Wado Ichimonji in his mouth; he also unsheathed his other swords. "And, for a promise to my fallen friend!"

"The world's greatest swordsman, Hawk Eyes Mihawk vs Pirate Hunter Zoro. What kind of battle will this turn out to be?" Patty wondered.

Upstairs Johnny and Yosaku watched the scene unfold, confident that Zoro would win. Usopp, on the other hand, looked worried to a certain extent, but this was Zoro, he could win, right?

Shockingly, Mihawk pulled at the crucifix necklace to reveal a small blade.

"Hey now, what's the meaning of this?" Zoro asked, his annoyance clear as he glared daggers at the miniature blade.

"I'm unlike those idiots who use their all to hunt rabbits. Though you are famous enough to be called a swordsman, this is the weakest of the four oceans, East Blue. Unfortunately, I'm carrying nothing smaller than this," Mihawk stated, he honestly seemed sorry for not having a smaller blade and well that would irritate pretty much anyone.

Of course, Zoro, at this point was far from calm and collected, thus his fuse was ignited. "Quit mocking me!" he said and clenched his teeth against the handle of the sword so strong that his teeth chipped a bit. "Just don't regret it when you die!" he yelled as he rushed toward Mihawk.

"You are but someone who's yet to experience the real world," Mihawk stated the truth.

"**Oni Giri**!" Zoro's signature technique was pretty much useless as Mihawk stopped it with his little knife. "W-What?!" Zoro gasped, he couldn't move.

Two swordsmen remained frozen in that position.

"Zoro!" Luffy breathed out, getting more worried with every second that passed, but he knew he couldn't do anything.

'_I knew it… he is completely outclassed_,' Vergil thought as he gritted his teeth, the outcome of the battle was painfully clear to him.

'_I can't move! What just happened? No one could avoid this technique before but just with his toy, he… Is this happened? Is the strength like his really this far away? That can't be! I can't be this far away!'_ Zoro thought, he rushed in recklessly. "World shouldn't be this far off!" he screamed, for all the slicing he did it was useless; Mihawk easily blocked the blades with his 'toy'.

The older swordsman easily pushed Zoro back and made him fall down.

"This can't be big bro! Please fight seriously!" Yosaku yelled from the third floor of the restaurant.

"Big bro!" Johnny called out as well.

"Shut it you two!" Vergil snapped at them, annoyed that they would reveal their location like that. Still, given that everyone's attention was on the fight the devil hoped no one would notice where they were.

"It can't possibly be this far away!" Zoro tried to assure himself as he attacked Mihawk once again.

He sliced again and again but Mihawk either stepped back into the safety or blocked the sword. He reached the railing and jumped on it only for Zoro to cut it, but the world's greatest swordsman jumped over him and landed a couple of meters away. Zoro was already there and tried cutting the man but if one was being honest he would say that Zoro never had a single chance of cutting or even scratching Mihawk who effortlessly evaded all of his attacks.

"Such unrestrained skill," Mihawk said as he blocked the sword. Zoro attacked with Wado Ichimonji and the sword clashed with the knife producing a small shockwave.

'_I didn't come all this way to lose to this toy-like thing!'_ Zoro thought as he restlessly attacked again and again.

Suddenly, he heard Kuina calling him and saw her in front of his eyes. He slashed from above but missed and allowed Mihawk to hit the back of his neck with the side of his hand. Zoro gasped as memories engulfed him.

_"Promise me. One day either you or I will be the world's greatest swordsman! We can compete to see who does it!" he declared and they looked at each other for some time before she closed her eyes and smiled. Zoro held out his hand and she took it. "It's a promise," they both said._

The image of the funeral flashed in front of his eyes as he turned toward Mihawk again. '_To become the greatest in the world,' _the way he trained flashed in front of him. The moment when he received Wado Ichimonji, all of that, he would not let all of that go to waste. Zoro breathed hard, he was clearly tired and Mihawk was just standing there. "If I could just defeat this man," he stepped forward, his footsteps were shaky and his slash was sloppy and slow, Mihawk just had to step out of the way and Zoro fell down, panting.

"Why do you seek ultimate power, you weakling?" Mihawk asked, curious to find out what drove someone like Zoro.

"Big bro's a weakling you say?! You damn bastard!" Yosaku was ready to attack.

"I'll teach you a thing or two!" Johnny yelled as well. They were however stopped when a burst of lightning caused them to halt their attempts.

"Stop! Yosaku! Johnny! Don't interfere!" Luffy yelled at them but one could easily see that he was fighting not to interfere as well. "Just hang on!"

"Luffy…?" Usopp questioned. Zoro was in danger; he couldn't understand why Luffy wasn't trying to stop him.

Zoro somehow managed to stand up. "I… Can't afford to lose!" Zoro announced, everything around him became white to him; the only thing he saw was Mihawk. "**Tora**…"

'_The world's greatest swordsman? That's nice! As the Pirate King's comrade, I wouldn't expect anything less from you!'_ He remembered Luffy telling him.

"**Gari**!" he attacked but Mihawk stabbed his knife into Zoro's chest, rather close to the heart as well.

Blood dripped down as the crew, Johnny and Yosaku watched in horror.

"Do you wish to have this to go through your heart? Why won't you step back?" Mihawk asked, honestly he was surprised, to some extent even impressed by Zoro's tenacity.

"I don't know. I'm not sure why myself. But if I were to take even a one step back. I believe that all those important oaths, promises and many deals 'til now, will all go to waste and I will never be able to return before you, ever again," Zoro explained as well as he could.

"Yes. And that's called 'losing'," Mihawk stated.

Zoro let out a burst of short laughter. "That's why I can't step back."

"Even if it means death?" Mihawk asked him.

"Death may be better!" Zoro announced without a single moment of hesitation.

_What strong will! Preferring death over defeat._ Mihawk thought and pulled the knife out. "Kid, state your name," Mihawk demanded.

"Roronoa Zoro," Zoro declared and held his two swords at an angle just a bit bigger than 90 degrees.

"I'll remember that!" Mihawk exclaimed as he took out his actual sword. "It's been a while since I've seen such a strong will. As a reward, a gesture to the fellow swordsman. I will wield this 'Black Sword', the most powerful sword in the world, to end your life."

"I appreciate your offer," Zoro thanked him.

'_This is my last chance! The world's best, or the death…?'_ Zoro thought as he prepared for Mihawk's attack.

Luffy and Vergil fought hard not to interfere.

"Big bro please stop!" Yosaku and Johnny pleaded.

"**Santoryu Ogi:**" he began spinning his swords rapidly. Mihawk dashed forward for the first time in the battle. "** Sanzen Sekai**!" Mihawk went past Zoro and stopped. They remained still until Zoro's two swords cracked and shattered. Blood gushed out of the newly formed wound on Zoro's chest.

He dropped to one knee. '_I lost_,' he admitted to himself and sheathed Wado Ichimonji the only sword that remained in one piece. '_Losing wasn't something I'd ever imagine possible. So this is what it is to possess the greatest power in the world,' _he stood up, turned to face Mihawk and spread his arms leaving himself wide open.

"What now?" Mihawk asked, once again surprised by this young man's actions.

Zoro smirked. "A wound on the back is a shame to the swordsman's pride," his statement made Mihawk smirk as well.

"Well said," Mihawk praised and slashed…

"ZORO!" both Luffy and Vergil screamed as huge gash appeared on swordsman's upper body.

"Don't rush your death, young lad."

"Zoro!" Usopp screamed.

"Big bro!" Johnny and Yosaku screamed as well.

Luffy screamed as tears began forming in his eyes.

Zoro was falling down

_Why?_ Sanji questioned and a couple of words Zoro said came to his mind.

'_When I decided to become the World's Greatest Swordsman, I threw away the rest of my life.'_

'_That idiot and his stupid ideas! His opponent was the true world's greatest! The result was obvious! Why didn't you give up your ambitions realizing inventible death?'_ Sanji wondered. "It's simple! To abandon your ambitions!" Sanji cried out as Zoro fell into the water.

Luffy was trembling and Vergil wasn't taking it much better. "Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!" Luffy stretched his arm out and grabbed onto the deck.

"Big bro!" Johnny and Yosaku cried out and then left their spot by the window.

Luffy lunged forward toward Mihawk with clear attention of attacking him. "Bastard!" Luffy yelled but Mihawk stepped to the side and dodged the rubber man that was now stuck in the wood.

"You're the young swordsman's comrade? Thank you for watching over his so far," Mihawk thanked the rubber captain.

Well, Luffy wasn't the only one affected by what Mihawk did to Zoro.

Vergil was frozen, all he could see was blood staining the ocean where Zoro had fallen. His breathing was uneven, his eyes wide and the irises shifted from yellow to blood red. "H_**ey**_, Zoro? _**Zo**_ro?" even his voice was changing, as for short moments, it turned disembodied. His now red eyes darted to Mihawk's sword, to the smallest traces of blood still on it despite the speed of the cut.

The devil looked at the tall swordsman, so calm and collected.

How could he have allowed this?! For one moment he foolishly believed that things would work out! For one moment he actually dared to believe that Mihawk wouldn't just kill Zoro! He trusted the human to spare someone that was completely outclassed. And he made a mistake!

In Thanatos, a shashka held within a large tube filled with some bluish liquid was engulfed in red energy.

And he nearly snapped right then and there, but for some reason, miraculously a small amount of reason remained in his mind forcing him to jump into the water to pull Zoro to the surface.

Luffy pulled his head out and dropped to his back but he still glared furiously at Mihawk.

"Rest assured; that man is still alive," Mihawk stated.

Luffy blinked and just then Vergil emerged to the surface with Zoro and the green-haired male coughed up blood but was still clearly alive.

"Zoro!" Luffy yelled, desperately calling out to his Nakama, there were even tears in his eyes. He was so focused on Zoro he didn't notice how his first mate changed.

"_**Zoro, come on this isn't time to sleep,**_" Vergil desperately tried to wake Zoro up, he was so desperate he didn't notice that his voice was disembodied.

"A Half-Awakened devil," Mihawk realized as he looked at Vergil.

The amount of relief due to hearing Zoro breathe and fear for the swordsman's life mixing in with still disembodied voice wasn't something Mihawk or Zeff would have expected from a devil, especially given the state he was in.

His eyes were completely red aside from black slit-shaped pupils. There were lightning-like red marks around his wrists with a similar marking going up to the elbow in a single line. Some of the skin around those marks was cracked and the same kind of those pitch-black cracks was coming from the sides of his neck and going up to just underneath his ears before going up to the eyes. If there was any other difference on his body it was well hidden by his clothes.

"Zoro!" Luffy screamed out the name of his Nakama once again as Vergil swam to Baratie where Johnny, Yosaku, and Usopp were already waiting.

"Hey, quickly, get him onto the ship," Usopp urged Vergil as he held his hands out to help the devil.

Mihawk also turned his attention toward Zoro.

"Vergil he's losing blood! We need medicine!" Usopp cried out, right now it didn't matter how Vergil looked. All that mattered was Zoro.

"Big bro!" Johnny and Yosaku cried out as Vergil tore the shirt apart, or at least what remained of it.

"It's still too early for you to die. My name is Dracule Mihawk! Find your true self, the true world, become stronger! No matter how long it will take I will await you in my strongest form! Surpass this sword! Surpass me! Roronoa Zoro!" Mihawk declared, motivated Zoro, and accepted him showcasing the respect he had grown to have for Zoro during their battle.

"For Hawk Eyes Mihawk to declare such words," Zeff muttered understanding better than most people the weight of such words.

Vergil gritted his teeth as he pressed the tips of his fingers against Zoro's wound. "_**Don't bleed out now, I'm not letting you damn it,**_" the devil's voice, even as disembodied as it was cracked as he shut his eyes closed and allowed electricity to course through the tips of his fingers. He needed to stop bleeding quickly and using electrocauterization was the only idea his brain could produce at the moment. Fully concentrated he opened his eyes. He pressed his left hand underneath Zoro's heart to keep any amount of electricity from doing additional damage and then finally began sliding his fingers across the largest wound.

"Kid, what is your mission?" Mihawk asked as he turned to Luffy.

"Pirate King!" Luffy said with no hesitation whatsoever.

Mihawk smirked. "That is a difficult path, even harder than surpassing me."

"Like I care. I'm going to become one anyway," Luffy said and stuck his tongue out.

"_**He needs medical treatment! Proper medical treatment! Surely one of you can do that!**_" Vergil yelled at the cooks as he stopped the bleeding, at least for the time being, of a bit more than half of the massive wound.

Usopp stood up and turned to the cooks. "I'm begging you, help him!"

The cooks aside from Zeff and Sanji didn't seem so certain, the devil looked frightening.

Luffy and Mihawk turned to where Zoro and the others were at.

"Please! Old man! Sanji!" Luffy pleaded the ones he sort of knew.

"_**I'll protect your restaurant! Do whatever you want just do something!**_" Vergil offered and as reckless as he was it looked like he would be ready to throw his life away if it meant keeping his part of the deal. "_**Zoro needs help! RIGHT NOW!**_" he cried out, losing what little control he had as lightning mixed with small bits of red energy circled around him.

"Get him upstairs, make sure he survives," Zeff ordered when he realized that despite everything his cooks, aside from Sanji weren't going to help the devil just like that.

"Owner Zeff," one of the cooks perhaps tried to argue.

"Now," Zeff cut him off and turned to Vergil. "Calm down, devil, you're losing control," he advised and watched as Vergil's eyes widened. '_He's not aware of it? At all?'_ of all things Zeff could have imagined this wasn't one of them.

With electrocauterization finally completed Zoro gasped and it was only at that moment that Vergil began turning back to normal. His marks disappeared as if they were never there to begin with before his eyes finally turned back to their normal yellow color.

"He's alive!" Usopp exclaimed as he dropped to his knees next to Zoro.

Vergil moved just a bit away before looking at Zeff. "I'll take him upstairs,"

"W-Wait," Zoro gasped and opened his eyes to look at Vergil.

The devil seemed conflicted but relented.

"Luffy, can you hear me?" Zoro asked, his voice was hoarse but he was conscious.

"Yeah!" Luffy assured him.

"Sorry for worrying you. If I don't become the world's greatest swordsman you'd be in dilemma now, right?" Zoro asked, his voice betraying just how much pain he was in, both physical and emotional, he just lost, he nearly lost everything.

Luffy just watched toward the boat, his mouth was a bit open and his eyes showcased disbelief.

Zoro coughed up blood.

"Big bro! Don't speak anymore!" Johnny and Yosaku tried to stop him.

All the eyes were turned toward Zoro. "I will… I will never… LOSE AGAIN!" Zoro was crying. "Until I defeat him and become the greatest swordsman, I will never be defeated anymore!" Zoro declared tearfully, his voice was cracking.

At this Mihawk smirked while Luffy grinned.

"Any problem with that? PIRATE KING?" Zoro cried out, expressing everything, his faith in Luffy, his shame, his resolve and conviction, his dreams and life, he placed them all in one man's hands.

"Shishishishi! None!" Luffy told him with a large grin on his face, no matter what, he was not going to let Zoro regret this.

"Good team. I hope we meet again," Mihawk stated and began leaving.

Vergil smiled softly and picked Zoro up. "Time to rest, Zoro."

_**~X~**_

The devil.

Vergil wanted to laugh, to mock and curse how blatantly out of place he was as one. He wanted to scream because he allowed this to happen, he chose this. The first time he had no choice in the matter, this time he did and he willingly chose to let humans into his life.

And now everything he was trying to push away, everything he felt he lost for good was coming back with a vengeance.

He clenched his fists as he watched over Zoro; as he made sure the cooks were doing their job. He felt cold, deep within his bones as blood coursed through his veins. That cursed blood of his.

He was the physical manifestation of everything wrong about human and devil contact. He was the embodiment of the grandiose mistake made by the biggest joke nature could have played on them, all of them. He cursed the numerous similarities between humans and devils aside from obvious outside appearance.

Oh, he was way over his head this time. Because he understood now what was happening to him. He heard his voice, disembodied; now he was completely aware of what happened. And he realized that his eyes were red back then. Yellow irises and slit-shaped pupils, that's how devil eyes looked. Not red, especially not red. Especially not when accepting that would open up a damn big can of worms.

And he could not afford to do that. Not when he had a promise to these cooks to keep.

Even more so since he knew that it was too late. He already lost his Devil Arm, he already lost his power, he wasn't about to start doubting one thing that seemed to define him. He was Black Thunder, a devil.

So he chose to do what he kept doing for such a long time, bury the thoughts with actions. The white-haired devil opened the window and jumped down a burst of lightning surrounding him as he landed on the railing and realized that the fighting area was much bigger and it seemed attached to the restaurant.

This was due to the Fin, a platform that was hidden underneath the restaurant and it was an addition to the deck, a big one at that. With it, one could fight without damaging the restaurant so it was perfect for this situation.

Aside from the obvious change in the available fighting space, Vergil was greeted by cooks who went on with their declarations about fighting Krieg and his pirates. Quite stupid as far as Vergil was concerned because they couldn't do what they wanted to do. They were too powerless. Too weak.

"All of you stand down," he stepped onto the platform in between cooks and pirates and faced the enemies. "I promised I'd keep your restaurant safe, so leave them to me."

"You alone against all of us? Don't underestimate us!" one of the pirates yelled at him.

Vergil smirked at that, forcing whatever thoughts he had about anything other than this battle out of his mind. "Challenging a devil? Yeah, what could possibly go wrong?" But it also brought forth the cruelty of his devil half, the lack of empathy for his enemies so he pulled his right hand back and charged electricity through it.

Pirates charged at him, swords raised and battle cries echoing and it all ended in one simple moment.

"**Staccato Lightning**!" Vergil roared, this was not the silent rage he was used to, this was not the quick burst of rage contained within him. His heart was crying out for some form of release and this time the electricity he sent forth had the intention to kill. Pirates dropped down as lightning bolts kept jumping from one to another and branching through the attacking crowd. The ones in the back had some luck to simply lose consciousness. Most of the pirates, however, were offered a swift death, so quick they didn't even feel anything.

"As I suspected, nothing could go wrong," Vergil spoke up once more once as the last pirate fell down. He felt much calmer now, he simply felt more comfortable now that most of his thoughts were vanquished back to the most secluded corners of his mind.

And that little moment of distraction nearly cost him. If it wasn't for years of experience he would have taken the full force of the blow, instead, he managed to raise his arm just in time to block the incoming… pearl-like bullet?

He was about to retaliate but the sight in front of him just made him halt. There was a rather strange, towering man, Pearl, that came out of the water while Vergil was busy observing his lightning at work. His ensemble included two large iron plates covering his front and backside as well as two small plates with large pearls embedded in them. The same plates could be seen on his elbows and knees as well and he had a large pearl on his head.

"What are you doing?" Pearl asked the fallen pirates.

"Who is he?" Luffy wondered as he held onto the wrecked ship's mast sort of like a sloth would.

"Iron Wall! Also known as Krieg Pirates' Invincible Iron Wall Shield Man. It is I, Pearl-san!" Pearl introduced himself.

'_Humans really are strange,'_ Vergil was pretty much baffled by what he saw, and he saw lots of strange demons and devils, but this probably took the cake.

Krieg's subordinate turned his attention to Vergil. "You, how could you defend from my killing pearl shot?" Pearl demanded.

Vergil opened his mouth to answer but nothing seemed to make enough sense at the moment. Finally, he made a timeout sign with his hand. "Timeout! Just give me a few moments to wrap my head around this and then I'll do whatever comes next," he requested knowing full well that it may have not been the smartest thing to do. Nonetheless, he needed time because this was not what he signed up for when he chose to come to the Human World.

"That's not how it works! Get serious!" some of the cooks cried out due to the outrageously stupid lack of focus Vergil was currently dealing with.

While the devil was comprehending the sight in front of him another bunch of pirates reached the platform and rushed in to attack.

"It'd put shame on Baratie's name if we allowed you to defend us all on your own," Sanji said as he came up to Vergil. "Besides, you're too shocked to deal with them," the cook smirked at the devil. And then, in a split second Sanji appeared in the middle of the pirates and supported himself on his arms. He spun his legs around kicking the pirates away. He kicked the last one away and stood there with one leg still up in the air.

"Oho, he's got a really good kick! Now I'm even more interested in him," Luffy commented, he was watching the scene unfold carefully.

"Are you so arrogant that you only kick them? Is this your principle?" Pearl asked, his attention obviously moved to a currently bigger threat, Sanji.

Which was quite reasonable considering Vergil actually took a moment to rub his eyes to make sure Pearl was indeed real.

"A cook's hands are his life. He cannot injure them in battle," Sanji shot his foot up and pointed it toward Pearl. "So I'll finish you with these feet."

"Finish me? Impossible. In my last sixty-one battles, I have won them all completely unharmed. I have never even spilled a single drop of blood in a battle. Not a single drop. This justifies how strong I am," he tapped the pearls together twice. "I am the strongest of the strongest! I'm strong, huh?"

"Is he joking? It's not very funny!" Luffy complained at the stupidity of Pearl's statement.

"Hey, straw hat guy! If you look somewhere else you'll get hurt!" Krieg mocked as he swung around the enormous spike ball. He threw it toward Luffy and broke the mast making the rubber man yelp. He swung it once again, hit the part of the mast that Luffy was holding onto and sent Luffy flying…

"Even the marine cannons can't hurt me. No attack can harm me!" Pearl boasted and then, as things usually go when one boasts too much without much to back it up, got hit in the back of the head by none other than Luffy.

Luffy dusted off his shorts.

"Welcome back," Vergil greeted him casually as if his own captain falling right in front of him did nothing to surprise him. After Pearl he doubted anything in this world would surprise him as much. _'This is normal for humans; I mean mom actually had a relationship with a devil…'_

"Ah, I'm back. He sure scared me. I nearly fell into the sea," Luffy let out a small sigh of relief, and then they noticed that Pearl had a nosebleed.

"It counts. You've just spilled more than a single drop of blood," Vergil regained his sanity enough to point out the fact, which prompted most of the pirates that were still conscious to try and assure Pearl everything was fine.

"This – this – this is dangerous!" Pearl cried out, it looked like he was having a panic attack due to the realization hitting him.

"He looks strange, what happened to him?" Sanji asked.

"Something about the nose bleeding?" Luffy guessed and picked his own nose.

"A panic attack. He's backed into a corner. Be careful if you're going to fight him, he might become reckless," Vergil grumbled, he knew well enough how being backed into a corner can bring out the most dangerous in people. In the past, he was on the receiving end of such recklessness many times, and nearly as many times was forced into using such emotions as a fuel himself.

Pearl surprisingly began slamming the pearls on the small shields in his hands together.

"Stop it, Pearl! Don't get mad over a nose bleed!" Krieg tried to stop him but Pearl was at the point of no return.

There was little to nothing that could stop someone that just lost an integral part of their identity from panicking. Pearl burst into flames.

"When Pearl-san is threatened he sets himself on fire!" a pirate yelled, Pearl's own crewmates were panicking.

"What did you say?" Luffy shouted at the information given to them.

"**Fire Pearl Huge Favor**!" Pearl exclaimed.

"Ah, it's hot!" Luffy exclaimed as he, Sanji, and Vergil jumped out of the fire's way.

The fire was spreading across the fin and the pirates Vergil killed were being swallowed by the flames. There was something sinister about the entire scene as the scent filled their nostrils. Vergil knew that scent, there was a hint of it every time he allowed heat into his lightning. It made him grit his teeth, too many places in Thanatos burnt down during his time in the army, too many lives perished the same way the dead pirates currently were.

Vergil glanced at Luffy, rubber male clearly had better days and the scent was quite obviously making him feel sick. This wasn't something Vergil wanted, he knew being a pirate would put Luffy in many dangerous situations, he knew there would be battles and moments that were bound to leave scars on the teen. However, not this, Luffy didn't need to experience this, he didn't need and if Vergil could help it he wasn't going to. Two orbs of darkness, about ten inches in diameter each, appeared in front of his palms and he threw them toward the burning pirates. The blasts destroyed a part of the fin, dealing with most of the flames in the process and more importantly vanquishing the scent into the depths of the sea. Vergil wasn't proud of it, but at least they would sink and not burn away. They were the lives he took and while it was too late for him to think about how bloodied his hands were he wasn't about to let blood on his hands taint his Nakama.

"Hey, you guys! With these shields of fire, I'm indestructible!" Pearl exclaimed, clearly pleased by what he was accomplishing.

Vergil had never, in his entire life, wanted a human to die as much as this one. "And immoral, but this is hardly the time for the pot to call the kettle black," Vergil growled, he at least had the decency not to look proud of the lives he took and he would never, under any circumstances use something that would harm his comrades. He would never, ever stoop so low as to further ruin an already dead opponent, let alone an ally.

"Idiot! Are you trying to burn down the ship that we are going to steal?!" Krieg demanded, angered by Pearl's behavior for all the wrong reasons.

But his underling wasn't stopping, despite the fire being stalled by Vergil destroying most of the burning area it once again began spreading and coming closer to the restaurant. "Burn! Burn!" Pearl exclaimed as if his voice would will the flames to destroy faster.

"Bastard!" throwing caution to the wind Sanji jumped through the fire.

"Idiot! You're gonna get burnt!" Patty yelled after him. "Sanji!"

"Don't you dare burn this restaurant!" Sanji yelled as he reached Pearl, he was upside down in the air ready to kick the shielded pirate. He spun around and kicked Pearl, though his kick clashed with one of the burning shields.

"Isn't he afraid of becoming a fireball?!" one of the pirates dared to question.

Sanji held his hand out, he was holding his cigarette. "Idiot. If I'm afraid of fire, how can I call myself a cook?" the glare in his eye was evidently showing his anger. Anger at the danger this man put Baratie in, anger at the detestable actions he took over a simple nosebleed.

"Argh! What an annoying guy!" Pearl exclaimed.

"Take this!" Sanji found support in his hands as he kicked Pearl from above. Pearl fell down and skidded across the platform a bit.

Pearl stood up holding his bloody face, his defenses were shattered. "What kind of cook is he? This isn't good! Damn! Damn! Damn it! Fire! Fire! **Fire Pearl** keeps burning!" Pearl shouted, pearls set on flames shot toward the restaurant from above.

"The restaurant is going to be set on fire!" one of the cooks panicked.

"If those fireballs get into the kitchen the restaurant is done for!" another one yelled.

Yet a single man chose not to take cover, the very owner of the restaurant, Zeff, stood in defense of his treasure.

"Owner run away! Owner!"

Suddenly, Zeff sent a kick toward the balls, and the blast of wind put out the fire thus making only the little harmless pearls fall down.

"EEH?!" even cooks were downright surprised by this.

"My **Fire Pearl**," Pearl cried. His confidence, everything he was basing his identity on was falling apart, and everything he tried kept failing.

"This is nothing," Zeff stated.

"The old man is strong!" Luffy exclaimed as he looked at Zeff.

"If this is how it is, then I'll sink you and your 'fin' into the sea before the fire burns the restaurant!" Krieg said and threw the spiked ball toward Sanji and Pearl.

"Sanji watch out!" one of the cooks warned him.

"Oh no! He's surrounded by fire!" another one realized.

Sanji and Pearl could only watch as weapon approached them. At the very last moment, Vergil used lightning to boost his jump and rise over the fire with Luffy who reacted right away.

"**Gomu Gomu no Bazooka**!" he sent the weapon back without any difficulty.

"He shot back that spiked ball?!" Sanji exclaimed. It was about time he got a chance to be impressed by the man he would soon follow.

The spike ball hit the bottom of the mast next to Krieg and made it fall down toward them.

Vergil grabbed Sanji and Luffy and once again jumped over the fire and into the safety, thus leaving Pearl to get hit by the mast directly on the head. Pearl's face became purple and he fell down unconscious.

With Pearl defeated Krieg cracked his neck a bit. "Every single time, I have to do it by myself in the end," Krieg was pissed, that much was obvious.

They then heard Zeff grunting and falling down. Sanji and Luffy turned around.

"This time you can end it, right?" Gin asked as he set his foot on Zeff's back. He had a gun pointed at Zeff's head…

"Yes! Shoot him! The Red Leg Zeff! You only need to kill him and the restaurant is ours!" Krieg encouraged him, clearly, the man flipped from angered and displeased to happy.

"Gin!" Luffy shouted, he wasn't exactly making plans and thinking about what would happen next but he most certainly didn't expect this.

"Regardless of how great of a man he was before, now he's just an ordinary chef! Blasting off his head is no problem now. You want to save this man, don't you Sanji-san?" Gin asked, his attention undivided as he watched Sanji's every move. "So just heed my word and get off this ship, I don't want to have to kill you!" Gin requested, both cooks and pirates watched him carefully.

"Leave this ship? Not a chance!" Sanji refused making Gin's eyes widen. "You look pathetic, old fart. In that state, you can't order the cooks around to fight, can you?" he said to Zeff.

"I don't want to hear all this crap from a small eggplant," Zeff scolded him, even with a gun at the back of his head he remained calm.

"Who are you calling small, asshole! Stop treating me like a kid!" Sanji yelled at him angrily. It looked like he finally had enough of this, all of this. All his emotions, bottled up inside of him were threatening to just spill out.

"That damn Sanji!" one of the cooks breathed out.

"He isn't going to abandon the owner is he?!" another one asked.

The cook in question took a deep breath to calm down, silencing the desire to just spill everything to Zeff. "Gin, aim that pistol at me," Sanji requested.

Both Gin and Zeff looked at him.

"Are you a moron? You'll get killed!" Luffy yelled at him.

"Maybe," Sanji said, he didn't have any plans, no fail-safe way to save them all, he just wanted Zeff alive with his restaurant intact and any price seemed insignificant to pay if it meant assuring that.

"Sanji-san… Why?" Gin asked.

"If you are so eager to die, let me do the honors. I owe you one for my nose. Don't you dare move now," Pearl said as he stood up, obviously not as defeated as Vergil originally thought he was. His glare was clearly fixed at Sanji. "If you don't want to get your boss' head blasted," Pearl threatened, Gin's eyes widened a bit for a moment as Pearl went to attack Sanji. "**Ultra Natural Pearl Present**!" he hit Sanji directly on the face thus making the cook slam against the platform them bounce off it and then hit the railing.

"Sanji! Why didn't you dodge that?!" Luffy demanded.

"If I did that he'd pull a trigger," Sanji breathed out, he couldn't defend, he couldn't react to it, he could just take the hit and that made it hurt even more.

"Why are you doing all this? If you'd just abandon this restaurant everyone will be saved! It's that simple!" Gin yelled at him, seemingly desperate to make Sanji just leave.

"This restaurant is that old man's treasure!" Sanji yelled. Gin and surprisingly cooks were surprised at this. "I'm the one who took everything from that old fart…" he could clearly see the rocky island and then a knife. "His power…" he saw Zeff swimming… "And his dreams," he said, his voice showed the sustained tears as he stood up. "That's why, now… I don't want that old fart to lose anything, anymore!"

Vergil gritted his teeth, Sanji was in for a beating and the old man was held at a gunpoint by the ungrateful bastard. And to think that for a short period of time he honestly thought Gin would stay out of this. And as Pearl approached Sanji the decision was made. There was one way to end this though. He just hoped that all the right people would remain oblivious to it. Subtly he glanced at the windows; the rest of his crew was somewhere up there.

Up in the cooks' quarters, Usopp contemplated on what to do. He knew what he had to do, but it was too risky to try anything right now.

"_When you notice a situation where none of us can do anything, act. You'll get only one good chance so make sure you don't waste it," Vergil told him when they first got here_. _"Trust your instincts, you're our sniper, our greatest support, and if played well our biggest element of surprise. This is a good opportunity to get a taste of that position."_

Usopp knew all of that but he was new to all of this fighting until one can't continue or ends up dead. How could he rely on his instincts if he couldn't even be sure he had them. _'Think, damn it, should I shoot now? No, the angle isn't good enough, I'd have to leave the cover to shoot and that'll take too much time. Plus Vergil is a demon surely he can think of something here...'_

He heard electricity buzzing.

_'See? All is going well, they have it under-'_ his eyes popped out of their sockets and his jaw dropped as his breath got stuck in his throat. "Vergil-kun, please don't joke like that..." with that much lightning right there in front of his eyes Usopp was honestly surprised he didn't faint, or at least scream, but surely Vergil wasn't going to attack with that much power.

"I-Is Vergil-aniki really going to use that big lightning thingy?" Johnny mumbled trying his best not to think Vergil would actually harm them.

"That would kill us..." Yosaku added with the same amount of confidence, or lack of it really.

"Pull the trigger or attack anyone and I'll destroy the restaurant," Vergil's ice-cold threat cleared all doubts, he was serious about this.

Usopp opened his mouth to scream his frightened heart out only to have a hand slam his mouth shut.

"He's... Bluffing," Zoro assured all of them and sat down on the floor. He was exhausted, on the brink of losing consciousness once again, but he still managed to push himself. His eyes calmed Usopp down, told him to trust Vergil on this one.

Thinking back to the way Vergil panicked when Zoro got wounded Usopp came to the conclusion that Zoro was right. Vergil was bluffing, probably...

"Wait, what about Zoro and the others?" Luffy's question echoed, the captain wasn't panicking but he still needed to be sure.

"Safe distance away, I helped them get out," Vergil assured loud enough for everyone to hear and it put Usopp's mind at ease. Vergil was letting them know he was bluffing, probably.

"Quit bluffing demon," Krieg seemed to have seen right through it but his confidence faltered when the ball of lightning grew to be nearly as big as Baratie.

"Why would I? I couldn't care less about what happens to this place," Vergil replied evenly.

Everyone seemed to freeze, everyone but Sanji who stepped in the way. "You shitty devil, you promised!" he cried out ready to charge in and attack Vergil and for a few short moments, Usopp feared he would.

Usopp could imagine and he was probably on point when he figured Vergil was smirking. "Hasn't anyone ever told you not to trust a devil?" he sounded so... evil. "I merely want a good fight and you're not allowing that, Gin, now choose. Shoot and vanish with this restaurant your captain desires so much, or live to fight for it!"

Usopp bit down on his nails to calm down even if just a bit. _'It's going to be fine, it's going to be just fine,'_ he looked down toward the pirate Vergil was threatening, he seemed to be hesitating, torn between what to do right now. His sight shifted to Sanji, the blond cook seemed to suddenly halt for some reason, and then the most unexpected order came.

"Go ahead and shoot," Vergil even went as far as to encourage it. Now it really didn't look like he was bluffing. "Shoot. Do it," he sounded so confident as he demanded that.

Usopp felt tears pooling in his eyes as the demon he was supposed to trust as a crewmate, as a Nakama, demanded bloodshed and a reason to cause an even bigger one. Yet it remained a contradiction, surely Vergil knew they were still there, he didn't fake his concern for Zoro yet now he looked like he'd kill them all in cold blood. Just this once Usopp wanted to look into Vergil's eyes, were they that berserk looking monstrous shade of red again?

No one did anything, no one moved, no one spoke, until…

"Do it, Vergil," Luffy of all people have Vergil a green light to do this. For a moment Usopp thought Luffy had gone mad, but then realized that to Luffy he and Zoro were no longer on the ship. Perhaps he thought that destroying the restaurant would end the fight. That, or he saw clearly through Vergil's bluff. It was more than likely the first option. "Just destroy the restaurant," he added as if to remind his first mate of the goal.

"Yes, captain," and Vergil actually moved the orb of clearly deadly lightning toward the restaurant.

"Don't you dare!" Sanji actually rushed forward.

"WAIT! Gin, let go of Zeff right now!" the lightning stopped moving, Sanji halted and Gin froze at the order from his captain.

"But Don."

"Do not oppose me! Zeff's log is in there, I can't risk it getting destroyed," well it was good to know Krieg prioritized a log to his comrade's life. Though seeing what happened before it wasn't surprising.

Lightning vanished and Usopp watched as Vergil turned to Krieg. "The threat still stands, if you kill one of the cooks I will destroy the restaurant," he was still bluffing, probably, but it seemed to work just the way it should be.

Usopp glanced at Gin and noticed that he no longer held the gun to Zeff's head, Vergil's plan worked and Gin was stepping aside. The long-nosed sniper stopped holding his breath, he wasn't even sure when he began holding it though. He looked at Vergil; he had a strange mixture of two utterly opposite feelings when looking at the white-haired male's back. He felt frightened and safe, afraid of what Vergil was, yet aware of the protection that very fact provided. The lightning user was loyal to Luffy, that much Usopp knew, and he did protect him and the others against that demon, so Usopp doubted there was anything to worry about. The logic made it obvious, but his instincts told him demons weren't good companions, especially when he doubted Vergil even needed to try in order to kill someone as strong as him or Nami.

Back on the fin, Luffy watched as the last sparks vanished into thin air, he doubted that lightning would actually destroy the restaurant. "It didn't feel right," he thought out loud. It certainly got Vergil's attention as his First Mate smirked at that.

"Good job catching that," he actually complimented though he made sure only Luffy heard him.

Luffy frowned a bit, this restaurant was causing a fight that nearly cost Zeff and Sanji their lives and it already forced his First Mate into killing. "I don't like it when you kill," he blurted out, not really caring about the lack of proper timing. When there was no immediate response he looked at Vergil and noticed the same look Vergil had on his face when he said Pearl was immoral. The same loathing for his own actions.

"I don't exactly like it either, but it's too late to wash my hands clean," Vergil bit out, his eyes clashed with Luffy's, perhaps even daring him to try and tell him otherwise.

Luffy tilted his head slightly. "Doesn't mean you have to keep killing," he reasoned, it was hurting Vergil, he knew that. Even he understood it came naturally to Vergil, to kill an opponent. But as natural as it was even he, or perhaps only he, noticed the way Vergil's eyes would narrow every time he felt an enemy die at his hand. The way only his eyes seemed to be just a bit apologetic and perhaps even his First Mate himself wasn't realizing that. Similar to how he didn't realize something changed about him when Zoro got cut. Vergil was much different than he was a year ago, and at the same time, he was still the same.

"Mercy is the trait of a human, Thanatos doesn't take kindly to such acts of kindness. Either way, we've got a battle to end," Vergil decided to stop the conversation and shifted his attention to the pirates still posing a threat to the restaurant.

"Another futile attempt demon. The restaurant will still be out of business no matter how much you try it will become a pirate ship!" Pearl yelled as if to prove Vergil's point, he was so desperately trying to make himself important to the result of this conflict that it was starting to get ridiculous.

"Were you shits really about to destroy the restaurant?!" Sanji finally had enough and grabbed Vergil's collar, Vergil was taller than him by nearly half a foot but it hardly did anything to stop Sanji from pulling him down to his level.

"But if we destroy the ship they can't get what they want," Luffy argued since Vergil obviously wasn't going to speak.

"And what the hell do you know about this?! What do you know about the immensity of my debt to this place?!" Sanji demanded, he was getting really emotional over this.

"Nothing and I don't care," Vergil bluntly replied but didn't make any attempts to set himself free.

Still, Sanji's demeanor, his resolve, and attachment to the restaurant to the point of being willing to die annoyed Luffy. "So you are going to die for it? Are you stupid?"

"What did you say?!" Sanji snapped, this time at Luffy, he finally released Vergil's collar and moved over to the captain.

"It's not about paying it back! Death won't pay it back! You want to die even though he saved you so you could live?! Only a weak person can think like that!" Luffy snapped at him.

"Then what do you suggest!" Sanji yelled. "And don't go giving me lessons when your first mate nearly killed us all himself!" he angrily pointed at Vergil.

"Vergil wasn't going to kill anyone!" Luffy declared quite boldly considering the fact that Vergil was indeed claiming they shouldn't have trusted a devil.

"You shouldn't fight amongst each other, here let me end you," Pearl actually decided to attack Sanji from behind.

At that moment Gin, with two tonfas pulled out from who knows where jumped in, only to be intercepted by Vergil. "Easy now, I'm your opponent," he stated.

Gin glared at him and looked at where Sanji was.

Sanji bit his cigarette in half, gritted his teeth and glared at Pearl. He lowered his body and shifted his entire weight on one of his hands. He spun rapidly and just when Pearl approached he slammed his foot into the side of man's neck. "**Concasśe**!" it was a powerful, incredibly powerful kick that sent Pearl flying all the way to his own ruined ship. The pirate grumbled as his world spun in front of his eyes and lost consciousness.

"Wow!" Luffy exclaimed, clearly amazed by the power behind Sanji's kick.

Vergil raised an eyebrow at the quite a powerful kick. "Maybe I should anger you more often, that was a hell of a strong kick," all he received though was a glare.

Gin, though impressed by Sanji's kick, chose to try one more time to avoid fighting. "Sanji-san! I wanted you to get off this ship so that I wouldn't have to hurt you. But it doesn't look like that's going to happen."

"Yeah. I won't go. This restaurant, I won't give it to you even if it costs me my life," Sanji declared he looked ready to fight whoever he needed to.

"Then at least let me kill you with my own hands," Gin requested, he didn't want this to happen, but he didn't have any other choice.

"Your opponent is in front of you, or do I need to give you a reminder," Vergil pointed out, and to back it up he allowed a few sparks to crackle around him.

"I have no need to kill you either. Just leave this ship while you still can't. Same goes to you, Straw hat boy," Gin warned them.

"Not necessary. Because Vergil and I won't lose to a bunch of weaklings like you," Luffy bluntly stated.

"Furthermore, I refuse to listen to anyone other than Luffy. Are you that afraid to face real pirates that you are even trying to get us to leave?" Vergil taunted with a smirk on his face.

Gin's eyes widened at their words and the pirates that were still conscious weren't taking it well. It seemed like they hit the right spot as pirates growled at them.

"You bastards! How dare you talk to our commander like that?" one of them demanded.

"Calling him weak right in his face!" another one yelled.

"We are the Don Krieg Pirates! The strongest in East Blue!" the third one declared.

"Don't you mean the one with the most people?" Luffy asked without and regard for how they might feel after hearing that.

"Looks like you hit 'em where it hurts," Sanji commented as he watched the downright frustrated and angry pirates. His own anger seemed to ebb away, he was still angry, but there was no harm done and in the end, that threat did help Zeff get out of a dangerous situation. Even if he still wasn't sure if the devil was bluffing or not. Back when he halted the first time he thought he saw something in Vergil's eyes, a silent plea to just stay put and trust him, but it could have been his imagination.

"Yeah definitely," Luffy agreed.

"We'll kill these guys ourselves!" one of the pirates yelled as they climbed onto the platform.

"Back off!" Krieg suddenly ordered.

Pirates halted right away. "Don Krieg! But," one of them tried to argue.

"When a guy gets frustrated when someone calls him weak that proves that he recognizes himself as weak," Krieg said and sat down. He was way too comfortable for a man that wasn't exactly winning this battle. "Let the outcome determine the weak and the strong. I am still here. So don't make a fuss!" Krieg ordered them.

"Aye!" the pirates said as one.

"Gin!" Krieg called making the said pirate turn to face him. "You are responsible for killing that cook and that demon. That insolent Hammerboy, leave him to me."

"I understand, Don Krieg," Gin replied, his eyes clashing with Vergil's, it would be his first battle against a demon like Vergil, the one with human-like appearance but he was confident he could take him down.

"Hey kid," Krieg got Luffy's attention. "I'll show you the power that conquered the East Blue. I don't care if you've eaten a devil fruit. You will come to see that such a thing is meaningless."

Luffy's eyes were overshadowed by his hat and he turned his head slightly to the side but still held a glare right onto Krieg. "You never shut up. I want to kick your ass, that's it," Luffy stated and then grinned. "Shall we start now? You just wait right there for me!" Luffy told him confidently.

"You arrogant little," Krieg hissed frustrated at Luffy for not getting it, this wasn't a fight he could even try to imagine winning yet there he was, the little hammer thinking he can fight him, Don Krieg.

The five fighters were at a standstill for now.

Suddenly one of the other pirates laughed a bit. "Those guys can't tell strong from weak," one of them claimed.

"This time that cook and that demon are finished. If Gin-san takes out that weapon he's serious!" another one commented added.

"They believe in you," Vergil commented offhandedly.

"I am called the Devil-man, they do have a reason to do so," Gin replied as the two made a small distance between one another a bit bigger by each taking two steps back.

"No matter how much his opponents plead for mercy, he would always kill them without any hesitation. A Devil-man, a human with no emotion," a comment from one of the pirates made Vergil smirk.

"Devil-man, huh? We'll see how it fares against a real devil."

Gin ran forward while still spinning his tonfa. He was smirking as he swung it toward Vergil's side; the white-haired devil blocked the tonfa with his left forearm and paid the price for it as he felt the force behind the swing, the only thing that saved his arm from breaking was the small layer of darkness that served as a cushion.

"Heh, not bad," Vergil praised and threw a punch toward Gin who ducked under it and attempted to hit Vergil's head with his tonfa.

Vergil stepped to the side and while Gin was still in the lower position he shot his leg upwards to kick Gin's stomach. Combat Commander blocked the kick with his second tonfa but his eyes widened when Vergil slammed his elbow against Gin's back forcing him into the platform.

Gin was lying on the platform and his crew feared the worst.

"The demon defeated Gin-san with only one hit?" one of the pirates asked in utter disbelief.

"Even Gin-san can't defeat him?!" another one cried out.

Vergil on the other hand still wasn't using lightning, or darkness that much, he seemed to be fighting Gin on human terms, with only a minimum amount of darkness to even out the playing field against the tonfas. "Get up, you can do better than this," Vergil told him, he wasn't moving away from his spot and was still waiting for Gin to move again.

"Idiots. What have you seen until now with those eyes? Gin is the Devil-man I praised! That's why I gave him the position of the combat commander," as Krieg said that Gin stood back up, Vergil was yet to move or make an attempt to stop him. "Soon he will show his abilities."

"You are too soft," Gin stated.

"The one who gets a favor done to him because of that doesn't get to complain or lecture me," Vergil stated. "Anyway is this all you've got? If I can bring you down with only one hit you aren't even deserving to have a serious fight with me."

Gin smirked and licked the blood that was on his lips.

Luffy watched the battle intently but then turned to Krieg. "Why is he looking over there?" Luffy asked himself. Suddenly he tapped his open palm with the side of his fist and grinned. "Ok! I'm gonna use this opportunity to kick his ass!"

Krieg's attention went from battle to the fallen mast that Luffy was using to try and get to his wreckage.

"Don't be so zealous," Krieg told him and tossed a small bomb into the ocean. It exploded a bit after the impact creating a large wave of water that made Luffy stop in his tracks. A gun appeared from Krieg's armor and shot toward Luffy. Now the bullets didn't work on Luffy but this one was strong enough to make Luffy fly back to the platform, albeit he was taken by surprise.

Krieg laughed as Luffy slammed his hand, in which he was holding his hat, against the platform.

"You bastard! Are you going to fight me or not?!" Luffy demanded angrily.

"Fight with you? Is it necessary? I use methods to kill people. It is a human power. Remember that, stinky monkey," Krieg insulted, or at least tried to, since this was Luffy after all.

"What?!" Luffy exclaimed and pulled his lips spread wide. "You better be careful messing with a monkey!" Luffy said, it seemed like he wasn't affected by the insult at all.

His attention was brought back to the battle behind him when he heard tonfa hitting and breaking a bit of the platform while Vergil stepped to the side.

The two pirates that were fighting, however, were going at it in rather close combat. Vergil ducked under the tonfa and attempted to punch Gin in the face, as expected the black-haired man blocked Vergil's fist with the second tonfa. Vergil grinned and shot his knee toward Gin's guts only to get it slammed down by Gin's tonfa. Once again the major damage was stopped by a small layer of darkness.

And that's when Vergil had enough, he dropped all the guard down and went for an all-out completely reckless attack. He ignored the tonfa that slammed into the side of his abdomen and punched the surprised pirate's face thus making him skid back. Gin remained on his feet and spun his tonfa in order to block another punch, Vergil's fist however stopped directly in front of the spinning tonfa and as soon as Tonfa passed in front of it Vergil shot his fist forward and connected it with Gin's chin. The full damage of the punch was however stopped when Gin's tonfa hit his forearm, albeit the hit was weaker than it should have been Vergil's arm sustained massive damage. One that under normal circumstances would be too much of a payment for a single hit.

Gin wasn't backing away he regained his footing and swung the tonfa right toward Vergil's head, as careless and reckless as Vergil could get he wasn't stupid, he knew that taking that hit would throw him off too much. He jumped up and attempted to land a decent kick on Gin's shoulder. Combat Commander stepped to the side and as Vergil began falling back down he swung his tonfa once again.

Neither one of them stopped smirking when Vergil spun around in midair and grabbed the tonfa, he used the momentum behind it to land a powerful punch across Gin's chest. Vergil let go of the tonfa and flipped in midair before landing not too far away from Gin whose body skidded across the platform. Gin once again stood up and as it was now it was still uncertain about the winner of this showdown.

They attacked at the same time, the tonfa and fist clashed against each other, and Gin was pretty much expecting to hear bones cracking, instead, he heard and saw lightning crackling around Vergil's fist and slowly getting stronger and stronger. The white-haired devil threw a direct toward Gin's face and lightning surrounded his fist. Gin waved to the side to dodge the incoming punch and hit Vergil's abdomen with his tonfa. Vergil coughed up blood but then swung his arms in an arc and managed to hit Gin's neck with his forearm.

Gin coughed up blood as well and gasped for breath. Vergil moved forward and punched him in the guts making him double over; Vergil kicked him and sent him flying to the side. Gin gripped his tonfa even harder and then in a desperate motion threw it at Vergil. The speed of the weapon that was lunging toward Vergil was something he normally could dodge but the knee that Gin previously hit reacted in that very moment. He felt his knee buckle slightly and could only cross his arms and take the tonfa head-on.

Vergil began sliding backward but remained on his feet. "That kind of attack will never work against me," Vergil stated, the tonfa that was thrown at him lost momentum and began falling, only for him to catch it. His arms hurt, but the bones remained intact thanks to his devil half making him more resistant to damage.

"Amazing, even Gin-san is having troubles to defeat him," one of the pirates gulped.

"You are really strong Gin, I'll give you that. But, you're a hundred years too early to take me down," Vergil approached the pirate.

"What? You are going to try and finish me off with my own weapon?" Gin asked as he began spinning his remaining tonfa.

Vergil tossed the tonfa in front of Gin whose eyes widened.

"You know, I figured a 'Devil-man' would be a bigger threat. Yet here you are, doubting what to do," Vergil sighed and raised his hand, an electric charged surged around his arm, bright and intense as slight thunder cracks echoed.

'_Doesn't mean you have to keep killing.'_

Luffy's words echoed and shook his resolve to end this in the simple death of his opponent.

'_There is no such thing as an inevitable murder.'_

He used to be so naïve when it came to that, so childish to the way his home world functioned. But this wasn't his home world; this was his mother's world. He was far from willing to let mercy into battles, but when it came down to it Gin didn't have to die by his hand. Vergil took a step back. "Get out of here, you're already defeated," the human half he buried deep within his heart, for a moment he dared to believe Luffy and the others were pulling it back to the surface. His mind and body yearned for the balance of a cambion, his soul screamed for the devil to remain in control and his heart pleaded for the human to return.

He didn't deserve the human half of his blood, but perhaps even a devil could throw caution to the wind and show mercy to an enemy he once faced.

And with that, he actually turned around, about to make his way towards Luffy.

"Gin! Finish the demon off, now!" Krieg yelled out the order, perhaps thinking that Vergil, seeing as he was stupid enough to let Gin go, was also stupid enough to not hear him.

Yet the white-haired devil stood still. Consequences. He would face them no matter what he did. And if the consequence of deciding to spare Gin would be taking a hit, then so be it. He'd just stand back up and finish the job as a devil would.

And Gin stood up, glaring at Vergil's back and gripped his tonfa. He had to do this, he would have, if only there wasn't an intervention. If only Sanji didn't choose to step in between them.

"If he attacks you'll kill him, right?" Sanji's question was directed at Vergil.

"I will," there was no hesitation, no bluffing this time around, Vergil's voice was cold, disregarding of the act he claimed he would commit.

"You heard him, Gin. There's no need for you to die just because some asshole is ordering you to do so," Sanji addressed Gin this time.

"Sanji-san, move out of my way," yet Gin wouldn't listen, his knees were ready to buckle but he would keep fighting for Krieg no matter what.

"You do remember he threatened someone special to you, don't you? Why do you want to keep him alive?" Vergil was honestly puzzled and he turned around to look at Sanji.

"I know, that still doesn't mean he has to pay for it with his life," the blond cook replied sincerely much to Gin's surprise.

Vergil sighed, he didn't get it, he really didn't. Second chances were already something people should cherish as there really weren't many really important situations where you could get a do-over. Yet humans seemed to be handing out second chances like they weren't a luxury like it was fine to keep giving someone another try.

But perhaps the third time was indeed the charm for Gin as he dropped his tonfa, fell down to his knees, and actually had tears in his eyes.

"This is the first time anyone has ever been kind to me… That's why I can't kill you, Sanji-san!" Gin exclaimed through tears as Sanji telling him that he could come anytime came flashing in front of his eyes. He turned to Krieg. "I know. I don't plan on ever betraying you. I don't think anything we've done so far is wrong. I respect your strength and I'm grateful to you. And I'm very happy that you praise my strength and let me be the commander. That's why I do whatever you say and I'll still do it in the future. But… I simply cannot continue fighting this battle!" a couple of moments passed in silence.

Sanji and Luffy looked at Gin.

"Don Krieg, I beg of you, couldn't we just leave this restaurant alone?" Gin begged as he looked at Krieg, there was no hint of betrayal, or disobeying, the tears and his tone only spoke of his loyalty to Krieg. Loyalty Krieg simply couldn't see.

Krieg clenched his jaw and fists as he stood up. He was furious at Gin, way too furious. "You bastard! Not only are you disobeying my orders, but then you tell me what to do!"

Gin was silently crying, deep down he knew this meant mutiny in Krieg's eyes, this would be the end of him and he accepted it.

"Do you wish to die so much? I am very disappointed with you," Krieg stated, now a bit calmer but his words were hitting Gin where it hurt the most, one person that he respected so much was just telling him that he was disappointed in him. "Didn't I always say that I detest those feelings of principle?!" he took one of the large shoulder plates and held it in front of himself. "The rest of you move aside."

Gin realized what was going on. "Don! That," he gasped.

Pirates weren't easy going about this either. "MH5!" one of them exclaimed.

"The poisonous gas?!" another one panicked.

"What?" Sanji exclaimed.

"Poisonous gas?!" Luffy asked.

"Luffy! Back away!" Vergil yelled at the captain.

"Masks!" one of the pirates shouted, reminding his crewmates of the only way they could make it out of this situation.

"Put on your masks right away!" another one urged.

"Or else we'll be killed too!" the third one reminded them and I the process informed Luffy, Vergil, Sanji, and the cooks.

"What the hell kind of a weapon are you going to use?! Using that weapon! You bastard!" Krieg's own crew actually insulted him.

"Don't you know the consequences of using it?!" another one demanded.

"Well you know it's bad when those scaredy-cats turn to insult the very cause of their fear," Vergil commented, he didn't like this one bit. Perhaps he could survive the poison, if it wasn't absolute sure-kill, but he doubted Luffy and Sanji were immune to poisons.

"Stop babbling over there. This is a battle!" Krieg grinned not bothered one bit about the dismay his crew was in or what the gas would do to everyone who breathed it in. "The purpose is to win. Treacherous? Despicable? Don't you agree that this is acceptable?"

Luffy and Vergil glared at him.

"Winning is the goal! The method doesn't matter, only the goal is important!" Krieg's crew, for the most part, had their masks on. "I don't care about the consequences that the poisonous gas will bring. As long as I win! That is strength!" Krieg said with a crazy grin on his face.

"Damn bastard," Sanji cursed, he couldn't see a way to stop Krieg now.

Gin pulled out his own mask.

"Throw away that gas mask! You aren't one of mine anymore!" Krieg interrupted him.

Gin froze momentarily. The horror was written all over his face.

"You must die," Krieg stated.

Luffy wasn't going to just sit around and let Krieg do as he pleased, he once again tried to use the mast as a bridge to cross and get to Krieg.

Their eyes met when Krieg glanced at the running pirate. "I won't let you shoot that poisonous gas!" Luffy declared.

"Stop interfering, Hammer boy," Krieg said and with a single slam of his fist down onto the mast, he made it break. The mast fell a bit lower and Luffy lost his balance. The straw hat wearing pirate fell down just as Krieg prepared to shoot at him again. Krieg fired his needle machine gun at Luffy who quickly ran back, on all fours, to the platform.

"Damn it," Luffy muttered. "Gin! I've never heard such cowardly words. I'm gonna destroy him!" Luffy declared boldly and it just seemed to will Gin into following Krieg's order even more for some reason.

"Don't you dare mock Don Krieg! He's the strongest man alive! And it's impossible for you to win," Gin stated, even after everything he defended Krieg's reputation and so-called honor and Krieg threw all of that away…

"You idiot! Open your eyes!" Sanji yelled at him. "That guy's trying to kill you!" he ran forward to try and stop Gin but it was too late.

"Of course! For me to talk about my feelings, is to betray the role I have. That's why... This is an obvious consequence!" Gin exclaimed and actually threw the mask into the water, there was no way of saving him now.

Vergil closed his eyes, he chose to take a risk, he knew there was nothing he could do to stop Krieg, the same bluff wouldn't work again and more importantly, he wanted to see how this resolved. If it came down to it he could try blasting the poison away, just to buy a bit of time, or try anything really.

"You realize at that end, eh?" Krieg mocked. "But it's too late. Die with those weaklings. **Deadly** **Poison Gas MH5**!" Krieg fired his poison bomb.

Or at least tried to.

Just as he was about to fire a couple of pachinko shot through the air and right into his weapon, it was stuck and blocked the poison rocket from launching.

Vergil actually grinned proudly. "Nice one," he praised and glanced subtly at where Usopp was, he couldn't see the long-nosed sniper but he was obviously there.

"Usopp? Were you bluffing about that too?" Luffy turned to Vergil, obviously happy the poison didn't pose any threat anymore.

"Well yeah, since I didn't intend to go through with the threat I needed to at the very least make it believable," Vergil replied as they watched Krieg glaring at his weapon.

The larger pirate growled in frustration and turned his glare at his enemies. "Doesn't matter, I'll kill all of you with my own hands, you included Gin! You must die, that's the punishment for making such a fuss over a bit of food," Krieg's voice gradually grew calmer and colder as he threatened to kill Gin.

"Don Krieg…" Gin muttered, defeated, hopeless, and accepting of death by this point.

"Gin. You… Chose a wrong man to follow," Sanji said as he glared at Krieg.

Krieg on the other hand laughed, he kept adding the salt to Gin's injury… "Are you sympathizing with my little scumbag?" Krieg asked mockingly.

"'Your little scumbag'?" Vergil repeated with a bit more authority in his voice thus cutting off any and all laughter. Well, lightning sparking up around him probably helped silence the laughter.

"Exactly. An idiot who refuses to follow my orders without thought of consequences is no good for anything. Isn't killing him before he makes the same mistake the sign of my love? Or is a demon capable of lecturing me?" Krieg challenged. He dared Vergil to also give in to his emotions, to those petty feelings Krieg deemed to be useless.

Vergil remained silent as he fought back the rage that built up inside him… This was, after all the opponent that Luffy would take down.

"No way. To think Don would kill his combat commander," one of the pirates was surprised by this as well and he wasn't the only one.

"No way… No matter how much… no way! Gin-san is Don's right hand!" the second one said.

"That's right, up until now no one has worked for Don as hard as Gin-san! Even at that time, when we had just escaped the Grand Line and Fullbody's marines were after us!" the first one reminded them.

"At that time when the commander became a decoy for Don, he abandoned everything and fought for Don! To think he'd really want to kill him!" the second one finally made Gin's loyalty to Krieg even more ridiculous at this point.

"Don't die Gin! Don't die for a guy like him!" Luffy said to Gin who. "I am going to destroy him!" Luffy declared.

"You can't!" Gin tried to stop him.

"Cut it out, you idiot! What the hell do you think your life is?! To throw away your life for someone like him is one of the most retarded ways to die! Open your eyes already you are wasting your time following him," Vergil snapped at Gin as well.

"Calm down!" Sanji said as he grabbed onto Luffy's wrist. "If you go straight at him you'll fall right into his trap! You'll die!" he yelled trying to keep the situation under control.

"I won't die!" Luffy said, he was completely serious and Sanji gasped at his words. "If you want to shoot me, then take your best shot!" Luffy challenged as he ran forward.

"Hey!" Sanji called after him.

"It'll be fine," Vergil assured the cook.

"But he," Sanji tried to argue.

"Is the man who'll become the Pirate King. He can't possibly lose to a low life like Krieg," Vergil declared with absolute confidence in Luffy's strength. "He is one of those people that those like you should follow, not scum like Krieg," his words were clearly directed at Gin this time.

The straw hat was safely lying on the platform as Luffy rushed in.

"Fool! Still trying even though you know you are going to die," Krieg mocked, his mocking was however ignored by Luffy who kept rushing toward him. "The sea is your hell, Hammer boy. In front of you lies," he threw a couple of small bombs. "Your grave!" Krieg exclaimed a bit louder.

"My grave?" Luffy asked and even though bombs exploded and made the large wave splash in front of Luffy he kept running.

Krieg began firing his needle machine gun.

And a couple of them did hit. One cut Luffy's side, the other one stabbed into his shoulder, and the third one went deep into his left leg.

"He's hit!" Sanji realized.

"So? You think that's enough?" Vergil said with a smirk as Luffy emerged.

Krieg's smirk faded as his eyes widened.

"**Gomu Gomu no**," Luffy jumped up and stretched his arm.

Krieg pulled a cape-like shield with multiple spikes all over it. "Fool come on then!" he dared Luffy to attack him now, there was no way the fool, even as stupid as he was, would try to punch him now.

"That's low!" Sanji said.

"**Pistol**!" yet against the beliefs of most people Luffy slammed his fist right into the spikes and punched the side of Krieg's face indirectly.

* * *

_**One chapter to go. I know these last few chapters were mostly brushing up the style a bit and there aren't any big changes but what can I say. I don't really feel like any change, for the sake of a change, would fit. Next chapter though, I finally get to show that Luffy is stronger than in canon.**_

* * *

_**Answers on reviews:**_

_**muhamed3871 – Thanks. I'm having fun, don't worry about it. I'm really enjoying myself, even if it's a bit difficult to go through these arcs again. **_

_**JokerAka – As with the previous two versions, he takes on Gin.**_

_**Guest – Thanks.**_

_**Guest – Next week, chapter 12.**_

_**Sagicknight – Thanks, Baratie isn't really much different from the previous version, but I guess that works fine as well.**_

_**scarlet rose white – Yeah, One Piece, in general, can get really sad, often there's a sad backstory to most fights going from Arlong Park. I mean you have Arong, Wapol, Crocodile, CP9 and the list goes on.**_


	11. Cook of the crew

_**Chapter 11 – Cook of the crew**_

* * *

Sanji, Zeff, and Gin watched in utter shock as pieces of Krieg's armor shattered and fell down due to the force of Luffy's punch. Just the fact that the boy was willing to punch into the spikes alone was shocking enough.

"What were you expecting? Something like that won't stop Luffy," Vergil said with a subtle smile on his face as he turned and walked up to the restaurant.

Krieg fell face-first on the floor and Luffy stood there, panting a bit. Everything fell into silence as pirates tried to comprehend just what happened to their captain.

Blood dripped down from Luffy's fist. He lifted his bloody fist and pulled out a large needle from his shoulder with a small grunt. "So this is my grave?" he asked and pulled out the one in his waist. "Your grave?" the needles were clearly stained with enough blood to leave stains on anything they hit. "My…" he struggled to pull the one at his left knee. "Grave?" he pulled the last one out and threw it. His breathing was heavy, he managed to take a few pained and deep breaths, clearly in pain from the wounds, yet he remained standing. "Like hell."

Cooks watched him, it was clear that a lot of his blood was spilled, the needles, the spikes on the cape that he punched, that were still there, they were stained with blood.

"Don't decide my grave," he raised his head and grinned a bit. "I am not meant to die here," he declared, all the eyes were on him and Krieg was yet to even move, let alone stand up.

Sanji and Gin joined Zeff at the entrance to the restaurant. As for Vergil, he jumped up to the cook quarters where Usopp, Zoro, Johnny, and Yosaku were.

Immediately Vergil grinned at Usopp. "Good judgment, you really saved us there," he praised honestly.

Usopp surprisingly took the praise quite nicely as he rubbed the back of his head and actually sported a small blush. "Well, I am the great sniper, hehe," and then he realized just how much of a fright Vergil gave him before. "And warn me next time before you make that crazy big lightning! I nearly got a heart attack!"

Vergil's grin shifted into a small smirk. "Yeah, yeah."

"I'm serious Vergil!" Usopp cried out. "If Zoro didn't keep me from screaming I really would have freaked out!"

At the mention of Zoro, Vergil looked to the side and found the swordsman sleeping once again. "Thank you," he thanked them, both Zoro and Usopp for giving him a chance to go through with his bluff. "Let's see how this fight plays out, shall we?" with that he turned to look outside.

Finally, Krieg moved. Luffy's complete concentration was on the larger male. "You say you're not meant to die here?" he slowly got to his knees. "If this isn't your grave, then whose can it be?" he demanded angrily, he slammed one of the plates of his shield into Luffy, well seemingly anyway, and the front of it caused a small explosion. "Yours isn't it?!" however Luffy jumped over Krieg and kicked the man's shoulder thus pulling him to the ground.

"No, it's yours!" Luffy exclaimed, for the second time Krieg hit the ground and Luffy's leg snapped back into its normal state.

Vergil smirked as the shouts and screams of pirates wondering just what Luffy was echoed.

"Don is supposed to be invincible! At this rate the legend of Don Krieg will," one of the pirates began doubting his captain. Though, to be frank, with blood dripping down from his nose he wasn't exactly looking invincible.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Krieg yelled, interrupting his underling in the process, as he slammed two shields together and then in a couple of swift moves formed a gigantic spear, his crew welcomed this turn of events as they believed it would be the end of Luffy. Krieg swung the spear but Luffy jumped up and evaded it. The true purpose of the spear was revealed at that moment though as it created an explosion upon impact.

"What's that? It exploded," Luffy wondered as he held onto the bottom of the mast.

"Now then," Krieg began. "How long are you gonna run for?" he threw away his cape. "Let's see. Hammer boy. This spear is totally different from those tiny ones earlier. After two or three hits with this, you won't survive. If it hits you you're finished!" Krieg slammed the spear down and another explosion forced Luffy to unwillingly bounce off the wreckage.

Luffy grabbed onto the railing of another wreckage and his arm stretched out. He managed to get control over his body and retract the body to its normal state thus he successfully landed on a small wreck. "What is that thing? It explodes every time it hits," Luffy stood up, though his legs weren't as firm as usual.

"Hey, Vergil, what's going on with him?" Usopp asked, he noticed the subtle tremble every now and then.

"Blood loss for the most part. For as long as I've known Luffy he had never lost this much blood, sure he got injured but not like this. His body simply isn't completely used to this. He's strong though, his knees aren't buckling and he's moving fine," Vergil explained, not really worried about the outcome of the battle.

"Nothing you do will work. It's about time for your strength to reach its limit," Krieg mocked, smirked at Luffy.

"Shit. Since the floor is in so many pieces I can't fight the way I want to. What a pain," Luffy complained, yet even as he voiced his displeasure at the situation he was in it didn't seem to bother him too much. He was aware of it, but he wasn't going to use it as an excuse. Still, the predicament he was in was only getting worse as he was forced into ducking under or jumping over the spear.

As much as it hurt to admit Krieg clearly needed a superhuman strength to wield that spar like that, it was heavy, really heavy. And despite that and the armor he had on he still moved as quickly as he did.

Luffy lost his balance as he stepped on the edge of the wreckage, he stumbled backward onto the lower part, but he still managed to jump up and evade the spear.

Krieg grabbed the spear with both hands. "DIE!" he yelled and swung toward Luffy. Yet Luffy escaped another hit once again, this time by grabbing onto the handle of the spear and pretty much hanging from it.

He let out a sigh of relief. "That was close," Luffy admitted and wiped a few drops of the sweat off his forehead. He, however, only made Krieg even angrier.

"You… Weak insect!" Krieg yelled as he slammed the spear down in front of him.

Luffy jumped up before it could connect and pulled his fist back. "**Gomu Gomu no Pistol**!" he punched the spear causing another explosion. But due to his arm pulling back he didn't get injured because of it. He landed not too far away from Krieg.

"What are you trying to do? Break it?" Krieg began laughing yet again. Krieg swung toward Luffy and nearly hit him. Luffy jumped back and punched the shield again.

'_A bit more and it'll be over_.' Vergil realized as he kept observing the battle, Usopp, Johnny and Yosaku were biting their nails, too nervous to really do anything else but sustain small heart attacks every time Luffy nearly got hit.

Luffy managed to dodge the spear three times, but the fourth explosion caught him. Luffy landed on the floor and Krieg turned around. "Nothing special," he commented. He stopped when he heard Luffy getting up. "You should realize who is the strongest one here."

Luffy was grinning at Krieg, even though he was slightly charred, bloody from the injuries he got before and suffering from mild blood loss he didn't hesitate for a moment.

Krieg blindly rushed toward Luffy. "Like I said! This is your grave!" planning to make his statement true Krieg swung once again and spear exploded again. "I am the strongest man alive!" still, much to Krieg's annoyance Luffy's leg, which was up high in the air twitched a couple of times.

"Finally," Vergil said with a smile on his face.

Usopp looked at him, surprised at the way Vergil was just standing there, watching. But despite the calm demeanor, he was showing Usopp noticed that Vergil's arms were folded, on the inside his every muscle was trying to push his mind into action.

Luffy stood up and the spear broke down.

Horror was written all over Krieg's face as he looked at his broken weapon. "The Great Battle Spear! What did you do?!" Krieg demanded to know, more importantly, he began wondering just how many weapons he would lose to this damned monkey and his crew.

"I just punched it four times in a row. Your spear won't work anymore," Luffy revealed. His eyes narrowed in a sheer display of concentration and confidence. "Prepare yourself."

Krieg simply kept growling in frustration.

"You get the picture now?" Luffy asked. "This much space should be plenty for me," he stated. Indeed the wreck they were on this time was a rather big one. Luffy stood up. "This much space should be enough to pulverize you!" he declared.

"What?!" Krieg shouted.

"That thing of yours. That spear is all broken. It's nothing but a bomb-on-a-stick now. Its power has halved," Luffy stated. It was true and Luffy, if nothing else, was a fighting genius, the lack of common sense he displayed in most normal situations was reversed when in battles.

"You think so?" Krieg questioned.

"Yeah," with no reason to hesitate Luffy simply stated the answer.

Krieg smirked. "Bomb-on-a-stick, eh? That's not so bad. Its power is sufficient to blast you outta here. You are all battered up. Looks like you are barely making it."

"No, I'm not," Luffy replied casually. His eyes never wavered, his body may have suffered a few injuries but his resolve, his mind, and soul remained more powerful than anything Krieg could throw at him.

Krieg lifted the former spear now named Bomb-on-a-stick. "Behold! Since you dared to defy the great Don Krieg. You are sentenced to death!" Krieg announced.

"I'm not gonna die. So there!" Luffy actually stuck his tongue out at Krieg. And it was clear, even in his voice that he was completely aware of how disrespectful that was.

"Really mature Luffy, really mature," Vergil said, he wasn't scolding the captain though as he had an approving grin on his face,

Krieg slammed the bomb-on-a-stick onto the floor and created another explosion, one that Luffy easily escaped from by jumping up, stretching his arms, and grabbing onto the top of the mast.

"Hey! Over here!" he urged Krieg to attack again.

"You monkey… DIE!" Krieg slammed the bomb-on-a -stick onto the mast, it broke down and Luffy began falling. "Stupid bastard," Krieg commented as Luffy held onto a broken piece of wood and threw it at Krieg. "It's no use!" Krieg shouted and burnt the mast down with the flamethrower.

"**Gomu Gomu no Gatling Gun**!" Luffy began rapidly punching Krieg's armored chest.

Krieg just smirked as Luffy kept punching him. With a battle cry, Luffy slowly stopped punching and landed on the floor.

Krieg took a small step back and began laughing. "Useless! Against this metal armor, your punches are useless. It didn't even leave a scratch," Krieg mocked and Luffy ran forward.

The rubber man threw his arms back. "**Gomu Gomu no Bazooka**!" Luffy slammed his palms into Krieg's guts. The man bent forward and the armor he was praising cracked just a bit.

"Don Krieg!" Gin yelled as Krieg began falling to the sea.

Luffy pulled his arm back. "And Pistol!" he punched the same spot and the armor cracked open.

Seeing and hearing the crack made Krieg's eyes widen. "What?! My invincible armor is cracking?" he muttered to himself. His anger went through the roof at that. "Cut the crap!" Krieg yelled and slammed the bomb-on-a-stick down to the floor. The explosion sent Luffy flying and the rubber man hit the small broken down wooden wall before falling to the floor. "Useless. Useless. This is absolutely useless! How could this armor possibly break with only a few hundred punches from this little monkey?" Krieg mocked for who knows what time, though this time it looked like he was covering up his own fear, because while it wasn't broken, it did crack.

"I think I'm almost there," Luffy said as he got back up. But when he looked in front of himself Krieg was no longer there. "He's gone," Luffy realized.

"Luffy above you!" Vergil called out from the room he was in.

"Above?" Luffy asked and looked up to see Krieg standing there on top of the broken mast.

"Listen, with the best-crafted equipment, the greatest power, and the most powerful weapons. You'll be acknowledged to be strong, a very powerful person!" Krieg once again bragged.

Luffy began running towards Krieg. "And that'd be me! **Gomu Gomu no**," he threw his arms back.

"That's totally useless! You can't do much with persistence alone!" Krieg yelled as he created another explosion with his bomb-on-a-stick.

Luffy didn't stop much to Krieg's shock; in fact, he continued his attack. "**Bazooka**!" Luffy's attack broke down the armor completely and seemingly made Krieg lose consciousness.

But the mast completely broke and sent both pirates on their way to the water.

Sanji looked at him, shocked at the fact that he pulled through even after all that.

Pirates gasped at the sight of their captain falling down.

Cooks began cheering.

"Don Krieg!" Gin cried out for his captain, after everything, he still remained loyal.

"I win!" Luffy exclaimed victoriously.

These words seemed to wake Krieg up as his eyes snapped open. "You wish, damn brat!" Krieg shouted.

"He's still alive!" Luffy realized but the iron net caught him before he could react and even if he had time to react due to being in the midair there wouldn't be many things that he could do. "Oh no," Luffy mumbled.

Krieg's laugh got a sick tone to it. "You can't run from this iron net."

Sanji's eyes widened as he watched Luffy trying to get free.

"The sea is right below you! It's clear who the winner is, Hammer boy!" Krieg yelled. "I'm always the one who has the last laugh!"

"That's our Don for ya!" one of the pirates cheered.

"Get rid of him!" another one requested.

Finally, Luffy managed to stick his arms and legs out of the net. "No problem cause my hands and feet are still free!" Luffy exclaimed

'_Why don't you just stand down? Why all this?_' Sanji wondered, throughout this day on more than one occasion he was forced to think back to his own dream.

Luffy wrapped his legs together and with his feet grabbed onto Krieg.

"What?!" Krieg exclaimed.

"This time! It's really over!" Luffy declared and pulled Krieg with his feet. His legs spun around making Krieg dizzy as he began falling toward the platform. "**Gomu Gomu no**," Krieg neared the platform and then finally slammed against it. "**Big Hammer**!" unconscious, bloody and most importantly defeated Krieg was lying on the broken down platform.

Vergil grinned and began running toward the sea.

"Where are you going?" Sanji asked.

"Devil Fruit users are unable to swim!" Vergil explained and jumped in.

"What did you say?!" Sanji asked as he lunged into the water as well, though he did take off his shoes and suit jacket first. The cook and devil were swimming to the place that Luffy was going to hit even before the rubber captain hit the surface.

Vergil and Sanji reached Luffy who was already beginning to sink lower due to the net serving as an additional weight. Vergil managed to get the net open and Sanji pulled Luffy to the safety of the surface. Luffy was however not waking up…

Angered by the fact that Luffy wasn't waking up Sanji snapped at him. "Aren't you the one who refuses to die?! Isn't that what you believe in?! Don't you dare die on me now!"

"Calm down," Vergil said as he resurfaced as well. "Take a better look, he's just not used to losing this much blood. You kind of can't train that, at least safely," the white-haired devil said and that's when Sanji heard a snore. Luffy just lost a bit too much blood and once he was safely in the arms of his Nakama he fell asleep.

He looked surprised as steady snoring filled their ears. "Why you," he lightly punched Luffy on the head.

"Let's take him back to the restaurant," Vergil said.

Usopp ran out, followed by Johnny and Yosaku, all three of them cheered as Luffy was brought back to the restaurant.

Gin looked at his captain's fallen form. "Don Krieg lost… That can't be. He is East Blue's King. That man, that man, that man, that man. He is the only man I've ever admired. I always believed that he was the best," he stood up and took off the band that was around his forehead.

"Your captain sure is a pain in the ass," Sanji commented, he was smiling though as he and Vergil climbed onto the platform with sleeping Luffy in their arms.

"Two things. First, our captain. Second, he isn't that much of a pain in the ass. Even if he was I take pride in being part of his crew," Vergil admitted. His eyes were surprisingly soft as he glanced up at the sky, he was happy with these humans, that was the only thing he was absolutely certain in the turmoil of his emotions.

"You are still going on about that?" Sanji said annoyed by the fact that the first mate seemed as set on that idea as the captain.

Meanwhile, Gin walked over to Krieg's unconscious body and lifted him up onto his shoulder. "Don Krieg. We've lost. Let's retreat and start all over again," Gin propositioned, proving once and for all that no matter what his life belonged to Krieg, he simply didn't know how to function without his captain.

"All that and not a single brain cell added," Vergil grumbled, annoyed at Gin's attitude.

The combat commander ignored the snarky comment. "Thank you for everything, Sanji-san," he thanked him.

"Come here again, won't ya," Sanji said sounding like he was daring the pirates to come for another round.

Gin turned around. "Sanji-san, Vergil-san. Give him this message when he gets up; tell him that we shall meet again at the Grand Line."

"But you…?" Sanji was honestly surprised by this statement.

"I've given much thought into it… It's the only thing I want to do. I'm not sure when Don Krieg's ambition became mine as well, but… This time I want to do what I want to do. Trusting my instincts, then I won't have anywhere to run anymore," Gin explained.

Vergil, though far from approving of Gin's resolve did see merits to that statement. It seemed to affect Sanji if only a little bit. Though he somewhat understood that the captain's ambition could end up becoming the crew's ambition. In fact, he was sure that somehow Luffy achieving his goal became something Vergil wanted to see more than probably ninety-seven percent of anything else in his life.

Patty and Carne came down and ran to the platform.

"What loyalty do I have to Don Krieg? I've just been using Don Krieg's name as a shield so I could run away. When your mind's made up you eventually pay less attention to things like being scared of a strong enemy, or how not to get yourself injured. That's what he taught me," Gin finished his little speech while subtly gesturing at Luffy.

Sanji smiled. He turned his eye toward Patty and Carne. "Patty! Carne! Give him the ship we use to get supplies!" Sanji told them.

"What? Are you serious?" Patty argued.

"Why should we give pirates a ship?!" Carne demanded.

"Because your lives will once again be in danger if Krieg wakes up right here," Vergil coldly stated making the two cooks shiver and run off to get the boat.

"We are getting it! We are getting it!" they exclaimed.

"You are the bluntest devil I have ever met," Sanji commented, granted he didn't meet that many, but Vergil was still the bluntest.

"The hell if I care," Vergil replied and picked Luffy up. "I'm getting Luffy inside, he needs rest," he explained and walked into the restaurant fully intending to put Luffy in the same room Zoro was in.

Usopp quickly picked up Luffy's straw hat and joined Vergil upstairs. Now all they needed to do was wait for Nami to come back.

_**~X~**_

Nami leaned against the railing as she watched into the distance with a sad smile on her face.

"They are really nice people. Next time we meet, I wonder if they'll let me join them again?" her clenched fists shook a bit as tears streamed down her face. "I don't know if I'll even get a chance to," she hugged herself, her voice cracking a bit as the tears she fought back for so long continued flowing. "I want to be free soon. Bell-mére-san!" she cried out.

_**~X~**_

Sanji walked into Zeff's room, intent on getting some answers. He needed to know a few things, to make sure he made the right choice and Zeff should have them.

"You forgot your manners, li'l eggplant?" Zeff scolded him, though Sanji's reasons for coming up so abruptly were quite clear to him.

"That devil, was he really bluffing?" Sanji demanded the answer.

Zeff chuckled. "Of course he was; if he could gather that much power that quickly he would have attacked Mihawk. That electricity was about as harmful as an overblown balloon, he wouldn't even be able to crack windows, let alone destroy the restaurant with it," Zeff looked outside, up towards the sky. "Curious beings, those devils. So willing to kill an enemy, if only they have a reason. That crew is something else, getting Black Thunder himself to care that much about them," while he was no longer a pirate he kept watch on things that happened in the world and he recognized Vergil immediately. In fact, he was sure Mihawk did as well. White hair and lightning scar, granted, some reports mentioned red eyes as well, but those were over two years old. Once he saw how Vergil's eyes turned red in Half-awakened state he was confident the devil was indeed Black Thunder.

"Black Thunder?" Sanji repeated, he heard the name a couple of times, but he never thought it would be relevant.

"A notorious devil said to be responsible for the biggest riot in the history of the Demon World," Zeff explained. It wasn't much but it was enough.

Sanji dropped his cigarette, frankly, he would have never guessed.

"And yet, that same devil, with that ridiculously bloody background, pretty much begged to get his crewmate treated. I guess that just goes to show that a devil, once he cares about something, no longer cares about what he has to do or lose because of that," the older cook was reminiscing of his own past as a pirate. "Have I ever told you I once had a devil on my crew?"

Sanji seemed to be in for quite a few surprises, Zeff hardly ever spoke of his crew, and the fact that Zeff was on the same ship as some devil was just an added surprise. "No, you haven't."

"He was tremendously powerful, a fierce fighter without a speck of mercy in him. It didn't matter who the enemy was, he'd go in for the kill. Yet he cared about us, always saying that we were the family he never had. It was before we even entered the Grand Line, we angered a group of devils, one on one I could take them, he could take them as well, but with eight of them and only the two of us capable of fighting back things didn't look good, they were going to kill us," the flashes of fierce, albeit one-sided battle went through his mind.

"How did you get out?" Sanji asked, sort of entranced by the story.

"He, Kaz, was already in his fifties back then, older than me and most of our crew. Being a wind devil he forced our ship away from the fight and just hovered in the air as our enemies surrounded him. He used a forbidden technique, he never spoke much about it, but one thing I later learned was that it wasn't the injury he sustained that killed him, it was **Varpulis**, the force of merciless wind depraving anything it touches of air to breathe that feeds on user's life. Our enemies died, but so did Kaz," with that the tale was over and Zeff looked at Sanji straight in the eye. "It's not something every devil can use, but if half of the rumors about what he had done are true then he knows how to use those techniques."

_**~X~**_

Well, Luffy was up and awake, that much they all knew when he was shouting for his hat, but Vergil and Usopp, along with Johnny and Yosaku stood by the railing, looking at the horizon. They were waiting for Nami to show up while Zoro still slept.

"Vergil, it's been nearly six hours. Where is she?" Usopp asked, though he was aware that the first mate was as informed as he was.

Vergil clenched his fists, it was the last thing he wanted to think about but there was no other explanation. Nami was a top-notch navigator, she couldn't get lost even if she tried as far as Vergil was concerned. The fact that she was a thief that steals from pirates and that he likely crossed the line that night made the explanation fairly obvious. "Chances are she robbed us and left," he grumbled.

The humans around him had their jaws dropped. Usopp even took the very bold step of shaking Vergil by the shoulders. "What do you mean robbed us? Merry is a gift from Kaya!"

Vergil sighed, letting the sniper shake him until he calmed down a bit. "It's the only explanation I have. Johnny, Yosaku, are there any devils that have a bounty?"

"Why does it matter?!" Usopp wailed.

"It's a hunch, but it's better than nothing," Vergil explained.

"Hm? Oh, there's one, Water Puppeteer, Krrim is a demon, like you Vergil-aniki. He is part of Arlong's crew," Johnny answered.

Arlong, that was the pirate from the bounty poster. "That's most likely where she went then, do you guys know where they are?" Vergil questioned as he looked back at the horizon.

"Uh, sure, but why would Nami-aneki be involved with those guys? Does she want their bounties?" Yosaku wondered.

Usopp, on the other hand, pointed his finger at Vergil and poked the taller devil's side of the head. "How do you know that? You two do have something going on, don't you?"

Vergil rolled his eyes at that. "I'm a devil, of course we don't. Nami and I simply talked on a few occasions, I don't know much but I know she's connected to a devil. As far as I know, it's bad, really bad," he thought back to Nami's night terror. He doubted the situation was any better.

Before any of them could keep talking a hand grabbed onto the railing next to Vergil and Luffy's loud call to his First Mate echoed.

It didn't matter that Vergil heard him, it didn't matter that he realized what was going to happen. He simply got slammed into the back by his captain and fell over the railing, to make it even more painful he slammed face-first into the platform.

Luffy seemed to realize what he just did and rubbed the back of his head as Vergil slowly tapped the platform with his fingers. "Ah, sorry," the captain apologized sheepishly.

Vergil took a deep breath. "Well, as long as you don't do it too frequently," he then looked at Luffy, quite seriously. "We've got a problem, Nami left us and I don't think she'll be coming back on her own."

Luffy processed the thought for a bit and then, almost out of nowhere. "WHAT?!"

A few minutes later the crew was back at the cooks' quarters where Zoro was once again awake. Though this time he was woken up so that Vergil could explain his theory.

"How do we know she didn't get in trouble with some other pirates?" Zoro asked a very good question.

Vergil however, had an answer for that. "She has my machete, if she was using it, it likely would have reacted by now and I'd know. Furthermore, this is Nami, she can take care of herself, I doubt she isn't able to escape a random pirate crew if it came down to it," he replied. He made sure his machete reacted to abrupt swings and devils so if either of those things happened he'd know.

Zoro nodded, but there was one more thing he needed to know. "Why don't we just let her be? There's no need to chase after that woman?"

And this time the one with an absolute answer was Luffy. "No way! I can't be without her as my navigator!"

Zoro sighed and covered his forehead with his palm. "Fine, what a pain in the ass captain."

"When do we leave then?" Vergil asked, he didn't like the idea of Nami going back to a devil, especially when she had his Demon Forged.

"I want to try getting Sanji to join one more time, then we'll leave," Luffy decided.

_**~X~**_

A bit later Sanji was outside with Luffy sitting on the railing next to him.

"Oh, yeah about you," Luffy began.

"I'm not going. I don't want to be a pirate," Sanji said and Luffy looked down sulking a bit. "I'm staying here to continue being a cook until that old fart acknowledges my cooking skills."

"I see… I'll give up then," Luffy said but his mind and body didn't work together as he held onto Sanji's collar clearly showing that he wasn't giving up…

"Your hand isn't giving up!" Sanji breathed as he tried to keep his own collar from suffocating him.

Luffy finally let go of the collar and Sanji blew out the smoke of his cigarette. "I can't go. They are all unreliable around here. But I'll go there someday. To the Grand Line," Sanji assured them.

Vergil joined them at the railing and leaned against it. "He's right, go with us right now," Vergil tried to persuade the cook.

"Not now," Sanji replied, but then a thought came to his mind. One that he was holding in for so long. "Hey! Have you heard about 'All Blue'?" Sanji asked, his voice betrayed his excitement and happiness and the same was done by a massive grin on his face.

"Nope," both pirates said.

"What? You haven't?! It's a mystical sea!" Sanji began. "In that sea fish from all over – East Blue, West Blue, North Blue, and South Blue, can all be found there!" Sanji explained with so much passion in his eye. It was his dream, his greatest goal. "It's a wonderland for cooks like us. And it's in the Grand Line! So have you heard of it?" Sanji continued to talk about the sea of his dreams.

Zeff was watching him from above. "He looks so damn happy," the older cook grinned. "Fool."

_**~X~**_

A bell rang.

"Lunch time, boys!" Patty called and cooks began coming to the tables.

They were all eating when Sanji came in followed by Luffy and the rest of the crew. "Hey, where are we sitting?" Sanji asked, it was kind of strange; there were no empty seats, even though this was a restaurant.

"Where's the food?" Luffy asked.

"At the tables," Vergil deadpanned.

"We didn't save seats for you," one of the cooks told them after a short silence.

"Eat on the floor, the floor," the second one added with a small chuckle.

"No seats? How can that be? This is a restaurant for crying out loud!" Sanji pointed out. Either way, the group took food and sat on the floor. "Can't be helped," Sanji relented.

"They are acting weird," Luffy noticed.

And he wasn't the only one. "They sure do," Usopp agreed.

"It's what they always do," Sanji stated.

"Funny, Luffy who never knew them before notices and you don't notice it," Vergil commented.

"I know them," Sanji countered, though he was a bit more aware of the devil's moves this time around. If the guy was really that notorious then he was really good at looking fairly normal.

"You sure?" Vergil challenged but figured there was no need to press the topic. "Well whatever," He shrugged it off.

Patty tasted the soup and didn't look satisfied. "Hey! Who in the world made the soup this morning?" he demanded to know.

Sanji quickly raised his hand. "It's me! Me! Pretty good, eh? Today's even more exceptional." Sanji said happily.

"I could hardly swallow this piece of crap!" Patty said as he wiped his mouth. "It's only fit for pigs!" he began spitting to prove his point.

This, of course, angered Sanji who glared dangerously at Patty.

The crew just kept eating their meals.

Sanji stood up "Hey, you never tasted 'human' food before, crappy cook?" Sanji asked.

"Hm. You are turning this awful cooking into an art form. I'm about to puke!" Patty said as he began spitting again.

"Excuse me, but I'm very confident with what I made today. Is something wrong with your tongue?!" Sanji demanded as he approached Patty.

At that moment Carne tasted the soup as well. He set the spoon down and wiped his mouth with a handkerchief. "It's disgusting!" he exclaimed and tried to do his best to look as disgusted as humanly possible.

"I can't take this at all!" another cook added. He spat as well. "Right everyone?"

"How can we eat this?" yet another cook complained.

"This soup is super horrible!" the third one added.

"We can't drink up this crap!" the fourth one stated, all the cooks set down their spoons.

"This is just awful. Can someone get me some water?" one of them actually requested.

"What are you bastards up to?!" Sanji yelled at them.

"You are just a phony assistant chef. You've just been around for a while, that's all," Patty stated.

"We are tired of your violent behavior," one of the cooks told Sanji as he stood next to Patty.

"It tastes so bad we just had to say it aloud!" the next one added.

"What did you say?!" Sanji was reaching the boiling point.

At that very moment, none other than Zeff tried the soup.

"We are cooks of the sea. We can't afford to waste even a single drop of soup," all the cooks including Sanji looked at Zeff as he ate the entire plate, spoon by spoon. As soon as Zeff finished the final drop of the soup he stood up and tossed the plate to the floor thus breaking it.

"Owner!" cooks called as one.

"Old man?!" Sanji breathed.

Luffy still ate but now he was watching the scene. Vergil was munching on a piece of meat and watched as well. Zoro was sort of paying attention, but he was more interested in his food. As for others they were just happy to eat something tasty.

"What's up with this disgusting soup of yours?" Zeff asked as he wiped his mouth. He also pointed a finger at the broken plate. "You intend to shut down this restaurant or something?" Zeff asked.

Sanji walked up to him and grabbed him by the collar.

"Stop kidding around old fart! Tell me what makes your soup and mine any different! Tell me!" Sanji demanded.

"Between mine and yours?" Zeff repeated. Two glared at each other and then Zeff hit Sanji, with his fist. "Don't be so conceited!"

Cooks watched in shock. "The owner didn't kick him, but punched him," Patty muttered.

Sanji sat up and glared at Zeff. The hurt in his eyes was barely covered by anger.

"You are a hundred years too young to compare to me, li'l eggplant! For I am a man who has cooked on all of the seas, all over the world!" Zeff told him.

Sanji kept glaring at him but then stood up and ran through the doors. "Damn it!"

'_Damn old fart! I… I,'_ he thought as he ran toward the railing, used it as a footing, and propped himself toward the air. "I'm no li'l eggplant no more!" he kicked the air out of frustration.

Zeff and other cooks watched him through the window.

"This soup is great!" Luffy exclaimed as he ate a full plate of it and began pouring in another one.

"I know so," Zeff said as he turned to Luffy. "Sanji's cooking is revered by everyone here," he admitted.

"It doesn't taste bad at all," the cook said.

"Yeah, it's well made," another one added.

"Man, that was scary. He seemed pretty mad," the third one said.

"Yeah, he was," the fourth one agreed.

Sanji approached the doors and reached out for the knob, however, he changed his mind and was about to leave again.

"But, if we didn't pull this off, he'd never leave. That stupid brat," Zeff said, Sanji, of course, heard this and his eyes widened. "Hey, kid. You and your crew need a cook on your ship, right?" Zeff asked. "I'm not trying to force you or anything, but that li'l eggplant of ours, care to take him with you?" Zeff asked as he sat down, he was speaking directly to Luffy as a captain to the captain. "To the Grand Line. The Grand Line is what he's always dreamt about."

"You see, the boss is a real troublemaker," Patty commented.

"I was worried for a second with your crappy acting," Carne told him.

Patty laughed loudly. "Not to mention yours."

"Another helping of the soup please!" one of the cooks requested.

"Me too! Me too!" others joined in and Sanji slid down the doors and sat down.

He took out another cigarette and tried to light it but his lighter wasn't doing what it was supposed to… Already frustrated Sanji gave up on lighting his cigarette, folded his arms over his knees, and lowered his head down. "I can hear everything, you damn bastards," he muttered.

"How about it kid?" Zeff asked.

"No," Luffy simply answered earning three reactions. A smirk from Vergil and Zoro, over the top shock from the cooks and Usopp, Johnny and Yosaku and wide eyes shock from Zeff.

"WHAT?!" the cooks yelled.

"Didn't you need a cook on your ship? Didn't you try to make him join all these days?" Zeff asked. "Or do you not like the guy?

"It's nothing like that. I want to take him with me. But he said he wants to stay here as a cook. I can't take him even if you guys insist," Luffy stated, he wasn't going to force anyone into anything. That was against everything he believed in.

"So you are saying that you can't do anything about it unless he says 'yes'?" Zeff asked.

"That's right. Luffy isn't someone who'd force someone to join. Making Sanji join our crew isn't fair, he'd never be happy if he is in a place that he doesn't want to be in. We don't want to force him into admitting that he wants to go either, it's pointless as well. You guys, maybe you shouldn't have done this, for example, if he doesn't figure this out, this little play of yours, how do you think he's going to feel? He'll feel betrayed, unwanted, alone. He'll feel like whatever he does is simply never good enough. As good as your intentions were the outcome could be bad," Vergil stated, his eyes clashing with Zeff's.

"That li'l eggplant isn't as weak as you think," Zeff stated.

"It's not about weak or strong. It's about the core psychology of humans and devils. You don't have to get praised for your work, but at the same time always getting scolded and degraded makes a person lose faith in their own ability, no matter how strong that person is… Sanji is a great cook. I know it, Luffy knows it, all of you know it but no one admits it in front of him. It leads that person into making mistakes. Everyone has a breaking point," Vergil said and he knew what he was talking about, too well…

"While doing things the more acceptable way is better. Would that peculiar kid just admit that he wants to go?" Zeff reminded him.

"Not a chance. He's a stubborn son of a gun," one of the cooks said.

"Seconds please!" Luffy requested.

"You are Black Thunder, aren't you?" Zeff questioned, not for a moment caring if it would reveal Vergil's identity to the crew he was a part of. His crew didn't react, they were all so young, judging by their looks some of them weren't even in their teens when the riot happened.

"I am," Vergil confirmed.

"And you did all the things you are notorious for?" Zeff wanted to know, to make sure that if Sanji was indeed leaving with these pirates he wouldn't be with a ticking time bomb.

"I can't deny or confirm, I don't know what you heard," Vergil replied quite seriously. "I do know this, I won't attack my Nakama," he knew what Zeff was worried about and he couldn't blame the man.

Zeff nodded, seemingly more at ease. "Why did you join humans?"

Vergil looked at Luffy and then back at Zeff. "I found a place I can call home, people I care about and trust, and a man I am willing to follow. Should there be another reason?"

The sincerity of those words honestly surprised everyone but Luffy.

Usopp grinned and threw an arm around Vergil's shoulders. "Hey, who would have guessed you were such a softy!"

Vergil's eyebrow twitched at that. "You'll never let me forget this one, eh?"

"Of course not," Zoro smirked at him leaving the white-haired male to just sigh again and look at Luffy.

Luffy had a large grin on his face and Vergil couldn't help but grin as well. It was a bit of an embarrassing situation, but he wouldn't take back a single word he said.

And Zeff was at peace, Sanji would be more than fine with these people.

_**~X~**_

"All right! Let's go!" Luffy said as the crew finished eating, with Sanji apparently refusing to join them it only left them with an option to go after Nami.

Sanji lit his cigarette as they began leaving.

"Wait," he stopped them. "All of us hold on to foolish dreams."

"Hm?" Luffy intelligently asked.

"I'm gonna do this for my own dream, for All Blue," Sanji said.

"Sanji?" Luffy asked, he probably guessed where this was going, but he needed confirmation.

Sanji turned to them. "As you wanted, I'll go with you. On this 'Road to become the Pirate King'! Allow me to take the position of the cook aboard your ship!"

Patty and Carne looked at each other.

"You've got a problem with that or what?" Sanji asked.

This got Luffy to cheer, loudly. "YEEES! Great!" the rubber captain yelled happily.

"Told you so," Vergil said with a welcoming grin.

"Isn't this great, Luffy-aniki?" Yosaku joined in on the celebration.

"Yay! Yay! We've got our cook! We'll always have something to eat now!" the two of them, along with Johnny and Usopp cheered as they danced in circles.

"So that's it, people. I gave you a lot of trouble, didn't I?" Sanji said to the cooks.

"Kh. Man, you piss me off!" Patty still tried to put up a tough act… "I wanted to throw you out of here by myself, but now things turn out to be easy."

"Well, I'm sorry… That's what you get for putting on such an appalling performance," Sanji told him.

"Wha-? You figured us out?!" Patty exclaimed in pure shock.

"You couldn't be any more transparent," Sanji replied. "You are all morons."

"What?!" Patty growled.

"So you guys really want me outta here, eh? EH, old fart?" Sanji asked this time looking at Zeff.

"What's with that foul mouth of yours?" Patty asked as he held his fist clenched in front of him.

Zeff, however, stopped him by a simple gesture of placing his hand in front of Patty. "That's right, you li'l eggplant. I hate kids! I regret every passing day that I let you live, you ungrateful brat."

"Heh," Sanji smirked. "That's just nice, old fart. Now you can sit back and relax for the rest of your life."

On the inside, they both knew how they felt.

_**~X~**_

Vergil and Luffy were in the kitchen.

"Aren't you done yet?" one of the cooks that packed things for Luffy asked.

"Nope, more meat please," Luffy requested.

"How many days are you gonna be sailing?" the cook asked.

"Dunno," Luffy replied. The second cook realized that there was no escaping this situation and placed another large piece of meat in the large food-filled sack.

Zeff walked up to them. "Kid!" he got Luffy's attention.

"Oh, old man," Luffy greeted.

"You want this?" Zeff offered his journal. "It's my journal during the year I ventured the Grand Line."

"Don't need it!" without a moment of hesitation Luffy rejected it making Zeff chuckle.

"Thought so," the old cook said as he grinned at Luffy.

"Shishishishi," Luffy laughed, and then Zeff turned around to leave.

"I want that frozen beef up there!" Luffy pointed at the beef.

"Can't you cut it out already!" the cook demanded.

"Yeah Luffy, get us something other than meat," Vergil added.

"That's not what I meant!" the cook snapped.

_**~X~**_

Outside, the crew was waiting for Sanji in the cook's ship. Other cooks were standing on the platform as well; ready to bid Sanji a farewell.

"Cook-aniki's rather slow, isn't he?" Yosaku asked.

"Yeah," Luffy agreed although he was fine with it, all that mattered was that their crew just got a cook and a new Nakama.

Just when he said that Sanji began stepping out of the restaurant. He silently stood at the doorways and looked at his boat. Without a word uttered from his mouth or from other cooks, he began walking toward it.

"This is the fury I've accumulated for the past years!" Patty exclaimed.

"Prepare yourself, Sanji!" Carne added.

The two attacked however Sanji dropped his belongings, jumped back, stood on his hands, and kicked the two cooks.

"You can never beat him," one of the cooks told them.

Without a single word, Sanji made his way to the boat. "Let's go," he told his new crew.

"You sure? No goodbyes?" Luffy asked.

"Nah," Sanji assured him, or perhaps he just didn't want to get too emotional.

"Sanji," one voice that could make him stop in his tracks called from the upper deck. "Don't catch a cold now," Zeff told him and Sanji broke down.

Luffy smiled as the two cooks finally expressed their care for one another directly. Images of Zeff swimming toward him and of the day he found out that Zeff ate his own leg flooded into Sanji's mind as tears well down in waterfalls.

"OWNER ZEFF!" Sanji screamed. He fell onto his knees and bowed down to the man that saved his life. "All this time, I owe you a hell of a lot! What you've done for me, I shall never forget!" right then and there Sanji cried his heart out without raising his head to look at Zeff who also allowed the tears to fall.

Patty and Carne were also crying. "You damn bastard!" Patty yelled.

Sanji looked up toward them.

"I'm gonna miss you, damn it!" Patty admitted through tears.

"Gonna miss you alright!" Carne confirmed it.

Other cooks weren't excluded either as they all cried.

"It's so sad," one of them said.

"I'm sad, damn it!" another one admitted.

Sanji grinned through tears.

"You morons!" Zeff scolded them as he wiped off his own tears, but that didn't stop the new ones from falling down. "Men should leave without saying a word."

The cooks kept crying though. As the crying and farewells stopped Sanji got on the boat and they finally set sail.

"Let's go!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Right!" Vergil and the others agreed, it was time to find Nami.

"'Till we meet again, you frickin bastards!" Sanji seemingly wasn't done with farewells but who could blame him.

Cooks said their farewells, as well as the boat, sailed further and further away.

'_With the belief and refusal to die, they will find, All Blue_.' Zeff was sure of it. "Men! Customers will be flooding soon! Get back to work!" he ordered the cooks.

_**~X~**_

On her way home Nami made a quick stop at a small island. It wasn't a place she usually visited and she knew she needed to get out fast, but at the moment she was sitting in one of the shops. Vergil's machete was in her hands. Five million, that's how much she could get from it. Way more than she originally thought it would get her. If it was a million or so, she'd just refuse. But five million, that would mean she'd need a bit less than two. Maybe she could tell the villagers and get that money.

All she needed to do was sell the machete.

"Are you really going to sell that?" she didn't even notice a young marine captain walk up to her until he spoke up. Her eyes widened slightly, he was a devil. The marine devil laughed at that. "Ah, the usual reaction. Still, I wouldn't sell that if I were you."

Nami frowned and looked at the machete again. "Why not?"

The devil raised an eyebrow. "You don't know? It's protecting you."

Nami's eyes widened at that, Vergil did tell her to keep it. "What do you mean?"

"It's infused with some lightning devil's soul; a tricky task may I add. It's made to react to other devils; if I even tried to touch you with an intention to harm you I'd get shocked," the devil explained though he didn't demonstrate. "Whoever gave that to you cares a lot about you. But, do what you will, I just thought you ought to know before you sell it."

Nami closed her eyes for a moment and nodded. "Thank you, uh-"

"Enji," the devil introduced himself and sat down on the chair opposite of Nami.

"Nami," she offered her hand to greet him.

He accepted the handshake and then leaned back into the chair. "Your lightning friend wouldn't be happy if you sold it, all the effort wasted for a bit of money," Enji pointed out. He observed the blade. "Still, there aren't any physical signs, even though I sensed it, it was just barely. Whoever did this knew what they were doing. How long did it take?"

Nami shrugged. "A few moments I guess, I never saw him do it before," she replied, thinking back to Vergil handing her the machete.

Enji whistled. "If the gender and type weren't wrong I'd say your friend is the woman that taught me," he admitted.

"What's her name? Maybe she taught my friend too," Nami figured she might as well ask.

Enji weighed his options for a few moments. "I'm sure there's no harm in telling you. Her name is Leonidas Galina,"

Nami nearly choked on her spit. Leonidas. "Is she a marine?"

Enji shook his head. "No, she took me under her wing fifteen years ago and taught me how to fight, back at home. I was with her for half a year or so until she went searching for her half-brother. I haven't seen her afterward," he explained.

"Is there a way to keep it from activating?" she wanted to be sure, having a weapon that would react regardless of what Krrim did was dangerous.

Enji luckily nodded. "You need to soothe it, direct it at a specific objective. It's a soul with one broad function, react to potential harm; as it is it's bound to be aggressive. Well, such is the wrath of lightning. I'm guessing there wasn't much time for your friend to explain it, but if he was willing to go that far to protect you, I'm sure you know him well enough."

Nami barely suppressed a frown at that. The truth was she didn't know him nearly well enough to know what would 'soothe' him as Enji put it.

"Captain Enji, your package is ready," a small pink-haired boy ran up to the devil and saluted.

Enji nodded. "Good, thank you, Koby, let us go," he turned to Nami one last time. "It was a pleasure to meet you," he nodded his goodbye and walked away.

Nami muttered a goodbye and turned her attention to the machete. Sell it and still be short on money or keep it and either way go on one more trip. Keep the weapon and risk it activates in a bad moment or sell it and spit on Vergil's trust and worry. She covered her eyes with one hand and breathed in a shaky breath.

It was a part of his soul, she didn't know what it meant but it couldn't be something she could just take for granted.

Finally, she stood up; she just walked away from five million but kept the machete. As well as a piece of new information, Vergil had a sibling. Now whether he was the half-brother or not, she wasn't sure, but the chances of that woman being related to him was high enough.

_**~X~ Thanatos ~X~**_

White-haired female in her early thirties stood in front of the tube container filled with a special kind of liquid, made specifically to contain a Devil Arm. The tube, connected to three monitors which were further connected to multiple electronic devices that regulated the state of the liquid and the weapon within it. On the opposite side of the room, connected to the main machine, was a large power source protected by think gray metal. The room was big enough for a couple of people to work in it, but that was about it. There weren't any windows, any other passages, just the doors and thin opening for ventilation.

"Galina," the man that approached her looked strikingly similar to Vergil, only with longer hair that was neatly combed and tied. He had a scar on the right side of his neck, a scar made by lightning. It nearly killed him two years ago.

"Perun reacted again. That's the second time in less than two weeks," she sighed as she played with a red hexagon-shaped pendant with a circle in the middle connected to each dot. She traced her fingers over the circles placed in the middles of every line. It was her most prized possession. Her gaze shifted to the pendant behind it, a simple, pale blue, cyclone symbol. "If this keeps happening and the team sees it," she shuddered at the thought.

Her father looked at the blade, at his son's soul. "They'll have a reason to make more experiments," he finished, he sounded calm, as if he was talking about the weather.

Galina smiled. "Well, the best thing that could happen is Perun shatters and Vergil dies," she stood up and stretched a bit. "It's better than the alternative."

* * *

_**Baratie – Completed**_

* * *

_**Well, next up Arlong Park. Thank you all for keeping me motivated through these four arcs, though Baratie didn't go through much of a change it still required time to get done with. I'll be much more motivated now that I'm nearly back where I left off last time. Not to mention my motivation will really go through the roof once I'm in Alabasta, since that's where I stopped the first time.**_

* * *

_**Answers on reviews:**_

_**JokerAka – If you compare it to the first version, then yes, he definitely cares more. But overall Baratie didn't go through many changes thus that scene where Vergil was worried was mostly the same. Now he isn't yelling as much so that might also leave a stronger impression when he does.**_

_**Guest – Thank you.**_

_**Guest – Oh, he'll be angry. Really angry.**_


	12. Home without safety

_**Arc 5 – Arlong Park**_

* * *

_**Chapter 12 – Home without safety**_

* * *

Nami sighed as rolled on her side, her room was dimly lit but she could still see Vergil's machete. "How do you even soothe a weapon?" for a moment she hoped Enji was just messing with her, but as she reached out to grab the machete she felt the slightest tingling. The tingling she didn't notice before, but now that she was aware of what Vergil did she certainly felt it.

Should she talk to it? There wasn't much else to do really. "You'll be safe?" no, there wasn't any reaction. Nami allowed herself a mirthless chuckle. That would soothe Usopp, not Vergil. At least that's what she thought, he didn't really seem all that concerned with his safety.

The promise of a fight was also out of the question and there wasn't much a machete would want to do. Even if it had a bit of Vergil's soul. She turned onto her back with the machete held up above her head. Thinking back Vergil was angered when someone he cared about was in danger or hurt. She smiled, hoping the idea she just got would work. "I'll be fine, but when I need you, I'll let you know," she spoke to the machete and ran her fingers across the dull side of the blade.

The electricity lost its intensity to the point of Nami barely noticing it. She just hoped it would work when Krrim was around as well.

_**~X~**_

The boat Sanji had kept sailing toward Nami's destination. Luffy was lying on the bowsprit with his hat covering his eyes and shielding them from the sun, Vergil leaned against the wall while the others sat down on the deck.

"The weather's wonderful!" Luffy exclaimed as he raised his hands up, he stopped lying down and was now sitting on the bowsprit. He jumped down and ran to the other end of the boat. "So the Grand Line is in that direction?" he asked cheerfully. He ran over to another side and pointed towards the distance. "Or is it over this way?" and that proved once and for all that Luffy honestly had no idea about navigation. "This way? That way?" he jumped around the ship like a child trying to find the birthday present. "I'm so psyched!"

"Shut up. Can't you pipe down a bit?" Sanji asked, the newest member of the crew was rather irritated by Luffy's antics.

Vergil glanced at Sanji and then at the carefree captain, unlike Sanji he found Luffy's enthusiasm endearing. Still, it was obvious Luffy didn't mind so Vergil let it go.

"Sorry, my bad," Luffy said with a grin on his face as he straightened up. "We finally got a cook on our crew. Now to find Nami so we can finally head for the Grand Line!" he cheered.

"Nami-san!" Sanji breathed dreamily. "Just thinking about her inexplicable beauty makes me want to jump for joy! I sure would like to see her again soon!" the smoke from his cigarette was shaped in the form of hearts as the cook thought about the orange-haired navigator.

_'A Devil Fruit? No, he can swim, so how the hell is he manipulating smoke?' _Vergil couldn't help but wonder. It was an impressive ability, useless, but impressive.

Luffy sat down at the bowsprit. "We are almost there, right?" Luffy asked. "The island where Nami is at."

"You are too naïve!" Yosaku scolded him as he pointed his finger at Luffy. "Way too naïve! Don't you get it?! We are getting closer and closer to Arlong's base!" Yosaku exclaimed.

Johnny joined in as well. "I'm sure Nami-aneki wants to take 35 million beri that are on Arlong and Krrim's heads. For what we know she could have already snuck into Arlong's base."

Usopp paled at the bounty. "Luffy, let's just get Merry back and leave," he pleaded fearfully.

Zoro, on the other hand, had a completely different reaction, the excited smirk on his face was enough of proof all on its own, but he unsheathed his remaining katana just a little bit. "Finally, a good challenge."

Vergil agreed; someone in East Blue that could match their crew, someone that could provide them with enough of a challenge. That's what they needed before the Grand Line, especially since Zoro just suffered a huge defeat.

"You nearly died not even half a day ago!" Usopp snapped at Zoro, sighing he realized that he might as well talk to the wall when it came down to this. Not that it stopped him from being frightened of fighting these pirates.

Sanji once again got a dreamy look on his face. "Ah, Nami-san is so brave, wielding that machete she gave you to carry around she goes and protects people by slaying devils," and he was once again thinking about Nami.

Vergil's eyebrow twitched at that. "The machete is mine," the cook was a good man, he could see that, but that wasn't enough to stop the small bit of annoyance caused by this kind of behavior.

"How come Nami-san has it now? Hm, shitty devil?" Sanji challenged, though perhaps he was just trying to get a rise out of Vergil.

Well, if Vergil was perhaps a few years younger that would most certainly get a rise out of him, seeing as how much his weapon meant to him back then. Nowadays he hardly cared about it. So he simply rolled his eyes at that.

Zoro, on the other hand, was getting annoyed. "Quit putting her on a pedestal love cook," he scolded clearly sharing Vergil's sentiment as far as that was concerned.

"What was that Roronoa, every lady deserves to be put on a pedestal," Sanji replied casually.

"Tch," Zoro scowled at that but turned his attention to Luffy. "Until we figure out why she did all of this we have to assume she betrayed us, do you understand that, Luffy, Vergil? I don't get why both of you are so attached to her, but she never hid that she steals from pirates, we should have expected this."

Luffy's eyes clashed with Zoro's. "Nami didn't betray us, she's our Nakama," he displayed the complete faith in her.

It's not like Zoro wanted Nami to be their enemy, to be a back-stabbing thief. He simply needed to be the voice of reason, to make sure the crew knew there was another outcome. With a love-struck cook, naïve captain, and Vergil being quite obviously attached to Nami to the point of giving her his weapon it was up to Zoro to look at it from a different perspective. "Why _did_ you give her your machete?" he turned his attention to Vergil.

Vergil remained silent for a few moments, trying to figure out a way to word his reasons properly. "I don't have a particularly good reason, to be honest," he admitted, thoughts clearly focusing on the last few times he spoke with Nami. He gritted his teeth feeling anger and frustration, but also worry. He looked forward, toward the island he still couldn't see. "I needed to be sure she was safe no matter what she did; that's the only reason I have for giving her my machete."

Zoro huffed at that. "Vergil, if Nami is our enemy… Will you accept it?"

This time there was no silence. "I will, but only if I get a proof," he replied but then looked at Zoro. "Right now though, she is our Nakama," the yellow eyes shone with conviction, Vergil wasn't going to change his mind when it came to that. At least not, as he himself said it, without a proof.

Before anyone else could keep the conversation going Luffy yawned. "It's about lunchtime, isn't it?"

His question took a few moments to get across to his Nakama, they were all tense to a certain extent and when it finally got registered Vergil, Zoro and Sanji grinned.

"Yeah," Sanji agreed.

Yosaku, Johnny, and Usopp face faulted.

"Take this more seriously!" Usopp snapped at them.

Vergil sat down in between Usopp and Zoro. "Overthinking it won't help us; we'll just go there and do what we have to do," he told Usopp. "Anyway, I'm not that good with this world's pirates, or well any other individuals, so does anyone know who that Arlong is?"

"I don't know," Sanji admitted.

"Never heard of him," Luffy bluntly stated.

"Oh I once fought his commander and won, he's nothing special," Usopp said confidently only to sweatdrop when Vergil stared at him indifferently. "Fine… Don't look at me, it's the first time I heard his name," he told the truth.

"He's a wanted fishman, that's all I know," Zoro added, he was, though just so he could get money for food, a bounty hunter. He did hear about Arlong here and there, nothing significant though.

"Fishman?" Sanji asked.

"A fishman eh? Never seen one before," Luffy was trying to imagine them.

"Come to think of it I've heard there is a Fishmen Island at the Grand Line. And that there are lots of gorgeous mermaids there!" Sanji exclaimed as his eye turned into a heart.

Luffy was drawing on some papers. "Those fishmen, do they look anything like this?" he showed them a masterpiece, a pure form of art, one that could never be replicated again, one that showed his immeasurable talent, at doodling. He showed them a fish with limbs…

Sanji, Zoro, Usopp, and Vergil began laughing.

"You've got a masterpiece over there!" Sanji said.

"You are just as bad as I am!" Vergil exclaimed earning another laugh from the others.

"You are that bad?!" Sanji asked.

"Yeah, he was struggling to stay within already painted outline when we were painting sails!" Usopp nudged his non-human Nakama in the ribs and smirked.

Vergil smirked back, he obviously had no trouble accepting the truth, he sucked at painting and there was no point in denying that.

"Couldn't you guys be more serious here?!" Yosaku snapped at them.

"You are hopeless," Yosaku muttered. He suddenly blew a whistle and began pacing back and forth. "Guess we'll have to explain it to you all. Arlong is a fishman who's already been to the Grand Line."

Yosaku sat down and now Johnny stood up "We'll start over from the top. The reason why the Grand Line is called a pirate graveyard is because there are three superpowers that exist there. One of them is the Shichibukai."

"Shichibukai?" Luffy asked.

"In simple terms, they are seven pirates who are acknowledged by the government," Yosaku said.

"What the hell does that mean?" Sanji asked.

"The dogs of the government, I take it they do the dirty works for the government or something like that in exchange for being free? Sort of like Devil Hunters but with a limited number," Vergil guessed.

"That's the rough definition. They give a fixed percentage of the treasure they get to the government. They are just government dogs to other pirates but they are powerful. The man that defeated Zoro-aniki, the Hawk Eyes Mihawk is one of them," Johnny informed them, though he was extra careful when he mentioned Zoro's defeat.

Zoro gripped his remaining katana. The wound on his body and pride still fresh on his mind.

"WOW! That's amazing!" Luffy exclaimed as he tapped his sandals together. "There are seven of them like him?!"

Zoro narrowed his eyes at that, there was no way all of them were as strong as Mihawk.

"Among the Shichibukai there is a fishman, Jinbe who is a captain of the Fishmen pirate crew, and the guy who fought alongside Jinbe in the Grand Line is a most wicked, devastating pirate… another fishman, Arlong!" and as Yosaku told them that pieces began fitting in together.

And Luffy was back to drawing as he showed them a drawing of a fish with arms and legs that was standing up.

"That's the same one from before, that one is just standing up," Sanji told him.

"It could go as a rough sketch," Vergil pointed out.

"How rough…?" Usopp sighed at the absolute lack of artistic capabilities the captain and the first mate seemed to share.

"Ever since Arlong came to the East Blue with Krrim he overturned over 25 villages. His power is far beyond Don Krieg!" Yosaku said.

The mention of the two brought Vergil out of the semi-relaxed state.

"So from what you figured out Vergil, Nami-san has some kind of connection with that pirate," Sanji recalled.

Thinking back, he only had a few things to go and his biggest clue was Arlong and the fact there was a devil in the fishman's crew. "Her village is probably one of the 25; I guess she works with Arlong and Krrim, maybe to protect her village or something. Nami never lied about hating pirates and devils and that would give her a good reason."

"No! Nami-san might be a mermaid herself," Sanji tried to give a positive and clearly unreal outlook on the situation. "I mean she's totally cute," he imagined her as a long orange-haired mermaid.

"Cute aside that makes no sense," Vergil muttered, but by now figured there was no point in telling that to Sanji.

"Like this?" Luffy asked as he added Nami's hairstyle to the fish he drew earlier.

This, of course, enraged Sanji. "Do you have a death wish?!" he snapped as he gained shark teeth.

"Love cook, eh?" Zoro commented to Vergil and prompted the older male to sigh.

"Quite an obvious one as well."

"Don't you guys understand what we're trying to say here?!" Yosaku tried so hard to get them to listen properly.

"Far better than you do now relax," Vergil said blankly and leaned back against the wall, he wasn't pleased with the situation, but it could have been worse.

"Alright, let's get ready for lunch," Sanji said as he stood up.

"Right on, lunchtime!" Luffy agreed.

"Lunch?" Yosaku asked, his worry seemed to perish right away.

"What do you guys want?" Sanji asked.

With the guys ordering their favorite meals Sanji left to make it.

_**~X~**_

Nami leaned her back against the railing of Going Merry as she approached the Arlong Park. She looked absent-minded for a couple of moments but then turned to look at the building. '_I'm finally back here again… My hometown…_' there was an emotionless façade on her face as she hid the pain that was buried deep inside of her heart.

_**~X~**_

How long had it been since she was back here in her personal hell? A month and a half? A bit more? Regardless not nearly enough. The massive building with 'ARLONG PARK' written on it ruined her island in more than one way and though she felt nothing but resentment and hatred for the place and those that inhabited it she couldn't show it.

Not now that she was so close to her goal.

Arlong likely wouldn't care, maybe he'd even find it amusing.

Krrim though, he'd snap if she even narrowed her eyes in his general direction. Compared to Vergil though…

"Hey, you! Get out of the way!" a small boy yelled at her and her train of thought came to a halt.

Nami turned around and was fairly sure she recognized the boy. Chabo was it? About a year back Krrim brought the boy along with his family for a 'bit of disciplining' as he called it. He was wearing a green beanie and an orange jacket. He also had a sword in his hands. "I'm here to kill Arlong! My dad was murdered by him!" he declared, the boy was crying even though he did put up a brave front.

Her heart went out to him, but on the outside, the cold look in her eyes was almost chilling…

"If you don't move, I'll kill you too!" the boy threatened. An empty threat, she doubted he could even comprehend what he was saying.

Nami pulled out her three pieces of staff, stuck them together, and slammed the staff onto the boy's chin without hesitation. Chabo fell to the ground.

"Arlong doesn't have the time to deal with the punks like you!" she snapped at him. Nami returned the staff under her shirt. "If you understand just get lost!" she threw a wad of bills to the ground next to Chabo. "Take that and go take care of yourself," with that she turned around, this was not how she wanted this to start, this was not something she wanted to deal with. But she did anyway.

"Damn it!" Chabo cried out.

Nami passed through the entrance and was greeted by the familiar sight.

"I told you our human is back," Krrim said, the twisted grin on his face made a small shiver go down Nami's spine.

"Don't be so rude, Krrim. She _is_ our precious cartographer," Arlong said then turned to Nami. "You sure took a while this time, Nami. How was the trip?"

"Quite productive, I've managed tons," Nami replied acting like she wasn't bothered by Krrim's taunting. Frankly, she wasn't, if that was what he wanted and that was where he'd stop she was perfectly fine with that. Once again a part of her hoped he would get bored of his 'little hobbies' as he had called them. The more hardened, experienced side of her knew he wouldn't get bored of it, for as long as she was within his grasp, it was just another reason she didn't like spending more time than necessary in his presence. "I can't believe there are so many idiots out there," she placed her hand over her chest as the amused smile got painted on her face. "Take a look yourself," she said as she lifted and then tapped the bag.

"Shahahaha! You sure are best at backstabbing others," Arlong said as he pointed his finger at her.

"Well I must admit," she agreed with a not so good-natured smile.

"Hey, crew! Nami is back! Prepare to celebrate!" Arlong called his crewmates.

Numerous fishmen emerged from the water cheering.

"It's Nami!" one of them exclaimed. "Nami's back!"

Despite having to force it Nami grinned at this. Soon enough she'd just leave for her room and that would be it. Or so she thought, she noticed Krrim had his eyes on her and it was clear he was intending to approach her. Fleeing to her room was the last thing she should do at the moment. Here, at the very least, he couldn't pretend it was an accident.

She now had something, or rather someone to compare him with. It was barely visible but there was something in her eyes as she thought back to Vergil.

"Your eyes aren't as cold as before. And you aren't as afraid as before. What happened? You met some devil?" Krrim asked as he casually walked up to her. The chilling look in his eyes made her shiver and instinctively reach back her staff only to realize she was gripping the handle of Vergil's machete.

Nami's eyes widened for a split second, every atom of her body was screaming for her to back away, either that or find a way to activate whatever defensive mechanism Vergil got into his weapon. By the time her brain registered fully what was going on Krrim was right in front of her.

"Tell me," he whispered threateningly into her ear and then noticed the machete. "Demon Forged? Looks like you did," he reached out and pressed two of his fingers against her neck. "I wonder what you had to do to get that, hmm? The fool won't be coming back for more, right? It would be a pity to kill my own brethren over temporary pleasure."

She didn't doubt for a moment what he meant. The more she was reminded of just what kind of man he was the more she found it disturbing that Vergil had anything in common with him, even if it was just species. "Whatever you say," she decided to ignore whatever Krrim said, there wasn't much of a choice, really.

Krrim smirked, that same malicious smirk not in any way similar to Vergil's. He removed his fingers away from her neck and clenched his fist. "Whatever I say is the law as far as you're concerned."

She wanted to move but found her feet were stuck. Water, he manipulated water to trap her. Her eyes widened as she watched the fist approach as if in slow motion. And then it happened. The machete reacted and a burst of lightning formed an orb around her. It pushed Krrim away much to the surprise of everyone present.

"What happened right now? What did you do, Nami?" Arlong stood up, this was bad, this was definitely bad.

Right now Nami would gladly take the punch, it was better than whatever Arlong would come up with if he got mad enough.

Krrim sat up, though it was obvious electricity affected him. "Don't touch her."

Nami never thought she'd hear Krrim say that and judging by the jaws that dropped all around her neither did the fishmen.

The devil took a few deep breaths and clenched his fists a few times. A few strands of his brown hair covered his rage-filled eyes and she could see he wanted nothing more than to kill her right then and there.

"That's not something I thought I'd hear you say," Kuroobi commented as he helped Krrim up to his feet.

Krrim spat to the side. "Me neither, but the bitch has a dangerous fuck-buddy, one with a Devil Arm, no doubt about it."

Nami didn't understand one bit about what brought Krrim to that conclusion, she had no idea what Devil Arm meant. But the next thing she knew Arlong was telling her to go to her room, for some reason he was just as distressed as Krrim and Nami wasn't about to risk it.

**~X~**

As the group heading toward Arlong Park ate their food Vergil suddenly stood up, his eyes widening for a fraction of a moment before he clenched his fist.

"Vergil?" Zoro called him as he and the others watched Vergil just glare into the distance, glare towards their current goal.

'_Nami. Damn it, we're too far,_' he was pissed off; his Demon Forged reacted, not that much, but enough for him to feel it. It would be useless to panic, anything he tried to do now would be for nothing. All he could hope for was that Nami would find a way to just be fine until they got there. With that realization, he jumped up to the roof and sat down. "I need to rest for a bit," he grumbled and proceeded to lay down and watch the sky.

Zoro glanced at Luffy and grabbed a bottle of sake.

"Be a bit more careful, the wound could open," Vergil said, he didn't even need to look to know it was Zoro that joined him.

Zoro scowled a bit and sat down next to the white-haired male. "I'm not going to lose to this wound," he declared and popped open the bottle. "Nami, huh?"

The half question half statement made Vergil turn his head to look at Zoro.

"You mentioned your machete would react, I figured you'd sense it somehow," Zoro smirked and drank a bit of sake.

Vergil sighed; not telling them would be the smartest thing to do, since they couldn't do anything about their speed. But if Zoro figured it out he wouldn't lie. "I don't think she's in danger right now, it was just a quick burst of electricity."

Zoro nodded and offered the bottle to Vergil. "It hits the spot,"

Now, Vergil wasn't too attached to the idea of drinking, but he could hold his liquor fairly well. "I've never had human alcohol before," he admitted and took a sip. The taste was surprisingly sweet and not nearly as strong as most of the liquors in Thanatos, plus it didn't burn his throat nearly as much. "It's," he seemed to be searching for the right word. "Pleasant?" he proceeded to drink a bit more and gave it back to Zoro.

"You mentioned Devil Hunters, mind sharing a bit more?"

"Mercenaries, they don't respond to a formal call to arms, they do not have a side in the war and are only loyal to a paycheck. If you want to get rid of someone, obtain something, or simply get something of that nature done you can hire them. The price is often ridiculous but there are enough desperate people in Thanatos. There are also enough people that know how to hold a grudge," Vergil explained, he thought back to the many times he encountered them.

"Another thing to look out for when we go to your homeworld," Zoro muttered, the idea was quite alluring, but a part of him understood that Vergil wasn't thinking about going there in near future if he could help it.

Vergil opened his mouth to speak again; he wanted to avoid going back to Thanatos with the crew. For good if he was being completely honest. Sure, he still wanted to kill Apolion, he needed to do it, but the thought of anyone of his Nakama dying because of that terrified him. Yet as honest as that feeling was he found it hard to utter the words.

Luckily, before the half-devil could force himself into saying that a monster that had a head of a cow and body of a seal with green and white skin emerged next to the small boat, and it was rather hungry-looking, clearly the scent of Sanji's food lured it.

Usopp, Johnny, and Yosaku screamed their hearts out at the sight while the others looked rather unimpressed by the creature.

"A cow?" Luffy asked.

"No it's a hippo," Sanji corrected.

"A monster like that shouldn't be around here! It should be on the Grand Line!" Yosaku panicked.

A thought suddenly popped into Vergil's head. "I don't care it's giving us a ride," Vergil said with a grin on his face. He jumped down and looked at the monster. The monster seemed to pipe down when it saw Vergil's eyes.

"It calmed down," Sanji noticed.

"Sink down," Vergil decided to test it and the monster sunk down below the surface. "Get back up here," He said and the sea cow resurfaced again. "This is strange, animals shouldn't obey me like this," Vergil muttered, normally animals, sensing what he was, should react differently and that's when realization hit him. "Luffy you try it!"

"Sink down!" Luffy ordered but the monster roared at him in defiance and even went as far as to attack Luffy.

"**Gomu Gomu no… Pistol**!" Luffy slammed his fist against its head and sent it flying away.

The dizzy monster reemerged from the water and went in for another attack.

"Stop," Vergil said and due to fear the monster stopped, it looked at the devil with tearful eyes.

"What's going on here?" Sanji asked.

"Vergil! How come it only listens to you?!" Luffy snapped at his first mate.

"Because I'm a devil. This monster could be part of that fishman Arlong's crew and due to Krrim being there it probably developed a fear of devils so now it listens to any devil," Vergil guessed then pointed at Luffy. "You are going to take his orders," he ordered.

"Shishishishi. Sink down," Luffy gave it another try and this time the sea monster sank down. "Get back here!" the rubber captain repeated and the monster obliged.

"These guys are crazy," Yosaku said.

"Ditto that," Johnny agreed wholeheartedly.

_**~X~**_

Krrim slammed his fist against the pillar, he didn't get it. How did Nami, a worthless thieving human, get close to a devil capable of using a Devil Arm? Maybe the rumor was actually true, maybe Black Thunder actually stayed in this world. Lightning definitely backed that theory up. He could see Arlong was equally distressed, he knew how strong a devil with such a weapon could be.

"You look worried, Krrim-san, chuu," Chew noticed. "I'm sure there is no need to worry."

Krrim growled and the water behind him splashed against the gates in a more violent manner. "You don't get it. Devil Arm isn't just any weapon, it's a key to fully awakened powers of devil kind," he spoke through gritted teeth and pulled out two boxes. "That man, Genzo, owns a weapon, right?"

Arlong nodded. "I planned to kill him, but you look like you have other ideas," he was on edge, that much was still apparent.

Krrim nodded. "I'll break his soul, see how the bitch likes that," he opened one of the boxes and smirked at the reddish liquid stored in a vial.

_**~X~**_

For a very long time, Cocoyasi Village was a near-perfect place to live in, peaceful, with just about enough chances to accomplish financial comfort for most of the villagers. There weren't many occasions where this particular place was used as a battlefield, people here were free.

Up until roughly eight years ago.

"Hey! Arlong's coming!" one of the villagers said as he ran up to a group of the villagers, among them was Genzo, the mayor of the village, a black-haired man wearing a brown police-like uniform with short sleeves and pants, he also had a hat with a pinwheel on it. He had multiple scars all over his body.

"What? What's going on? We just paid the tributes," another villager pointed out.

"Maybe he's here to punish me for weapon possession. Everyone hurry into your homes," Genzo told them.

"Gen-san," one of the villagers began in an attempt to convince the man to take cover but all the conversation was cut short when Arlong and his fishmen approached along with a hell of a pissed of devil.

'_Krrim is in a bad mood, something happened,_' Genzo realized as he glanced at the approaching crew from the corner of his eye.

People were hiding in their houses, most of the parents held onto their children or watched through the window as the crew passed through the village.

Genzo was alone as Arlong stood in front of him.

"Was it you? The one who has the damned weapon?" Arlong asked.

"Yes, I was," Genzo replied knowing that there was no use in lying. "I just love admiring my weapons. Is there something wrong with one of your subjects having a weapon collection?" Genzo inquired.

"Yeah, because it'll be trouble. Weapons only draw in evil and violence. It's the main factor of disturbing the peace," Arlong stated and if that was the only thing one heard come out of his mouth then they may even be tempted to think of Arlong as perhaps even a pacifist.

Behind some of the houses Nojiko, a woman with short light blue hair and tattoos observed the scene.

"I've got 25 villages and towns under my control. Rebels are a pain in the ass. As a ruler, I destroyed Gosa village as a warning. The fact that they failed to pay their tributes was an indication of rebellion," Arlong stated as if Genzo didn't already know how things were around here. "Understand? Low-life humans should think of nothing but ways of offering money to me. I need lots of funds! The tribute that you offer will be the very foundation of the Arlong Empire which will dominate the East Blue!" Arlong slammed Genzo's head against the wooden pole with enough force to break it down.

"Gen-san!" Nojiko gasped and nearly ran over right then and there.

"It's rebellious enough by just possessing a weapon. In order to prevent any more rebels from you humans, I shall kill you right here, right now," as Arlong said that many people began watching through the windows.

Nojiko stared horrified. If something wasn't done Genzo would die. "That's so selfish!" she muttered and ran to the scene. "How can you be so selfish, Arlong?!" Nojiko exclaimed getting Arlong and Krrim to look at her. As she glanced at Krrim she really didn't like the smirk on his face. "We've been offering tributes to you for eight years now without fail! There's no way we'd even think about rebelling is there?! Let Gen-san go!"

At that moment people began getting out.

"She's right!" another villager agreed.

"He didn't use any weapons! Please don't!" another one pleaded.

"Let Gen-san go!" the third one added.

"I said that possession of a weapon is also a form of rebellion. Or are your thoughts otherwise?" Arlong asked them, almost daring them to say yes. "Do you want me to dig up this village?" he asked, mocked them, threatened them. "If anyone dares to go against us then expect nothing less than the demise of this village. I don't mind whatever you choose."

Genzo lifted his head up. "Everyone, go back inside!" he pretty much ordered them. "It'll be futile to fight them now! If we were to resist them with our fists, we would have done so eight years ago! But, we swore to each other, 'Let's fight with patience, for our survival!'" Genzo reminded them.

"Gen-san," Nojiko muttered, she knew there was nothing she could do and a thought that constantly kept coming back was how to tell Nami about this, hiding it would be futile, she'd find out sooner or later.

"But," one of the villagers tried to complain.

Arlong lifted Genzo up higher. "That's so touching… nicely said. Of course, you can be happy for being alive… Even worthless pests like you!" he tossed Genzo to the ground with enough force to make the man cough up blood.

"Gen-san!" Nojiko shouted.

"Because not all living things were made equal! Shahahaha!" Arlong laughed.

Krrim suddenly laughed and stepped forward. "You know, human, we planned to kill you, but Nami pulled a little stunt," he gloated and crouched down in front of Genzo. "You know, as much as," Krrim grabbed Genzo by the chin and forced the human to look at him, "you guys hate my kind your little thief doesn't seem to hold the same sentiment."

Genzo narrowed his eyes, dared to glare at Krrim for bringing Nami up.

"You see; she's been quite intimate with some devil. I mean how else could she get a Demon Forged machete filled to the brim with devil soul?" now Krrim couldn't know what Nami did to get the damned weapon that was currently protecting her, but he could assume. More importantly, he could mock her beloved villagers with those assumptions. "Does the idea make your blood boil? After all the things I did to her she goes and actually sleeps with another devil."

Genzo and Nojiko clenched their fists; it took all their willpower to not lash out at the devil. He was lying, they both knew that, but the words still stung.

"Maybe she thought some devil would help her get rid of us? Or she needed someone to comfort her?" the devil reached into his pocket and pulled out a vial. "Regardless, she went against us, planned to do so, it doesn't matter. You'll be the one to pay," he forced Genzo's mouth open and opened the vial. "Say hello to her mother, once your own villagers kill you. I promise you, Genzo, you will never open your eyes again."

Genzo's eyes widened in horror, he could accept death, he could give his life so that others stay safe. But the liquid Krrim was pouring down his throat… To force someone else to end the victim's suffering instead of just simply killing them, that was the cruelest pleasure Krrim indulged in. And as the world turned black around him and the chilling scream as Nojiko screamed his name faded into the nothing it took him a few moments, or perhaps an eternity to again open his eyes. What he saw made him freeze; there he was many decades younger, a child running down the road as another carefree day passed by. And despite it being a moment from his own childhood Genzo saw it all as if he was watching from someone else's perspective

_**~X~**_

Nojiko fell down to her knees as Krrim and no one else laughed. It spoke of the cruelty Krrim was capable of when not even Arlong laughed.

"Ah, that felt incredibly rewarding. Frankly, it would be better if Nami gets the honor to end his pitiful life, but this is enough for me," he smirked at the villagers. "Too bad Arlong didn't let me give the same treatment to that woman as well. Bell-mere, was it, hmm Nojiko?"

"You filth," Nojiko spat, she didn't even realize it but Nako, the village doctor, was holding her back from doing anything rash.

"Says a human," Krrim turned around, happy with what he had done and left.

Fifteen minutes later Nojiko still couldn't calm down after what happened to Genzo. He got taken to the hospital, not that it would help though, Krrim did that from time to time and no one ever found a way to wake the victim up. And then things went from bad to worse for her and the villagers.

"Everyone! Long time no see," they heard Nami's voice; they turned their attention to the orange-haired girl that was walking down the road toward them. She was carrying a bouquet of flowers.

Nojiko felt happy her sister was alive and fairly well, but the guilt squeezed at her heart.

"Nami/Na-chan!" the villagers acknowledged but then left for their homes causing Nami's smile to vanish and for a brief moment, the hurt in her eyes was apparent.

The only one left was Nojiko.

"What's wrong? It's rare for you to use the main road," Nojiko pointed out trying to sound as normal as she could as Nami stopped near her.

Nami looked to the side, worry eating her from the inside when she realized Genzo wasn't there. Maybe he was somewhere else. "I was worried," she admitted.

Nojiko's eyes widened when she saw a machete. "Is that a devil's weapon?" she bit out, unsure how to feel now.

Glancing at the machete Nami nodded. "What did Krrim tell you?"

"That you were intimate with some devil, that's the gist of it," Nojiko sighed and sat down, she could only wait for Nami's response, which she got when her younger sister groaned. "You stole it, didn't you?"

"No, to both, I didn't steal it and I absolutely didn't sleep with Vergil," the orange-haired girl didn't seem that bothered by what Krrim was saying, all she wanted was to make sure Nojiko and other villagers knew none of it was true. "He gave it to me, I don't know why but it kept Krrim away for the most part," she massaged her still somewhat sore neck.

Nojiko felt anger rising inside of her once again as she saw the marks Krrim left on Nami's neck. "Let's go home, you better tell me everything,"

_**~X~**_

Mohmoo, the sea cow, was pulling the boat toward Conomi Islands.

"Yahoo! We've got some speed now!" Luffy cheered.

"Luffy-aniki! We're close to the Arlong Park!" Yosaku informed and indeed the crew was approaching the island and the building would soon be in sight.

"Here we come! Arlong Park!" Luffy said as he pumped his fist up.

Luffy ran to the end of the bowsprit. "Go! To Arlong Park!" he exclaimed as he held onto his hat. "Wait for me! Nami!"

Usopp, Yosaku and Johnny were slightly panicking due to the boat rocking up and down because of the speed they were going at.

Sanji grinned as the wind blew at his hair. Zoro unsheathed his katana a bit, ready to fight. Vergil concentrated on finding his machete, he still couldn't sense it but he was sure he would once they got closer.

_**~X~**_

The house Nami grew up in was quite simple, small, and cozy and surrounded by tangerine trees. It was a quiet area, seeing as it was a bit further away from the village. The place where Nami spent her happiest moments, and also the place where she watched her mother die.

She and Nojiko sat down at the table facing one another, frankly, Nami was a bit worried, worried that Nojiko might take the entire story the wrong way. After all, she was on the same crew as a devil, someone that was, at the very core of his being, the same kind as Krrim.

"So? What's this story about a devil?" Nojiko asked pretty much immediately.

Nami remained silent for a few moments, contemplating on whether or not she should tell Nojiko absolutely everything.

Nojiko smiled a bit, reassuring Nami that no matter what she heard here nothing would change. "I promised you could talk to me about whatever you want, right?" she reminded her. "I trust your judgment; sure, picturing you in any neutral, let alone friendly, terms with a devil does sound crazy, but I know you had a good reason."

Nami sighed, she felt a heavy weight being lifted off of her heart as she took in Nojiko's words. "It's not just Vergil, it's the whole crew. I was supposed to forget about those guys," she lifted her head up as she placed her hands on the table. Her eyes showed sincere sadness. "I was supposed to have them erased from my heart."

_**~X~**_

_Nami, Usopp, and Luffy were playing a card game as Zoro slept on the deck and Vergil leaned against the railing._

_Nami placed two aces on the deck. "All right! I'm done!" she cheered._

_"Damn it! Nami won single-handed once again!" Usopp complained, making the girl chuckle. Then he noticed Luffy… "Hey Luffy, why are you still holding so many cards?" he asked, indeed the captain was holding hell of a lot of cards._

_"Huh? I had a feeling that more is better," Luffy replied, clearly oblivious to the rules._

_Usopp made a funny shark-toothed face. "Idiot! Learn the damn rules already!" Usopp yelled at him._

_Nami was now as close to laughing as one could be. She still kept it under control but she was clearly happy._

_"All right! Then let's make a rule that more is better! Okay, it's decided!" Luffy decided on his own._

_"You can't decide on the rules! Vergil do something!" Usopp yelled at the first mate._

_Vergil raised an eyebrow, confused as to how he could possibly teach Luffy how to play a game he only saw being played today…_

_"Teach your captain the rules!" Usopp exclaimed._

_"How am I supposed to teach him something I vaguely have little to no idea about?" Vergil asked._

_"You can't be serious...?" Usopp asked in disbelief._

_Nami, on the other hand, found this to be the perfect opportunity to tease the devil a bit. "Or he's just too proud to learn how to play at his age," she smiled innocently at him._

_Vergil felt a vein pop on his forehead at that. "My age?" he asked incredulously._

"_No offense Vergil, but you can't be young with that hair color," Usopp shrugged, perhaps just a slightly bit worried about Vergil's reaction but he figured Nami knew what she was doing._

_That made Vergil halt. "Wait, you are implying that you think I'm who knows how old yet at the same time imply that there's something going on between Nami and me?"_

_Once again the sniper shrugged. "You look young, aside from hair. Maybe if you dyed it?" Usopp suggested._

"_I'm twenty-three years old, Usopp, as far as I know, that's considered old only by three-year-olds," Vergil pointed out causing Nami and Usopp's jaws to drop._

"_I figured you were born with white hair, somehow, but I'd never guess you were that young," Nami admitted. "Wait for a second, how do you guys age anyways? Maybe it's like dogs but in reverse, seven human years for one devil year?"_

_Luffy was looking quite blank, somewhat confused even, at the sudden interest and now Vergil wore the same blank expression._

"_We-" Vergil began and then paused, trying to comprehend the theory Nami proposed. "Age at the same rate, twenty-three in human and devil years, not a second faster or slower," he then looked at Luffy. "Alright, Luffy, let's see how this game is being played."_

_His first mate may have been using it as an excuse to end the conversation just as abruptly, but it didn't really matter to Luffy. "Shishishishi, let's do it!"_

_So, roughly twenty minutes later Vergil was translating Nami's explanations into a completely different language._

"_See Luffy, when you have chicken breast, thigh, drumstick, wing, and neck you get a royal flush, the highest-ranking hand in the game."_

_Usopp and Nami, as well as recently awoken Zoro, sweatdropped at the explanation. Nami, as she did thus far, gave Luffy a few combinations, amongst which was the one Vergil just 'explained'. "Which one is royal flush?"_

_Luffy grinned confidently and pointed at the combination of ten, jack, queen, king, and ace of spades. "Neck, wing, drumstick, thigh, breast," he was still grinning as his crew, aside from Vergil, pretty much fell over._

"_This is nuts," Usopp grumbled, sure he wanted Luffy to learn the game but this was just crazy…_

"_What have I gotten myself into?" Nami wondered out loud. "I don't think it's possible to stay sane with these two…"_

"_I second that," Zoro agreed as he pushed himself up and looked at the laughing duo._

"_Wonder how he'll explain that you can't hold more than five cards," Usopp muttered to them, prompting the two to nod._

_A few minutes later Vergil delivered the long-awaited explanation._

"_See Luffy, you have a plate and it can only hold five pieces of meat, so to get another piece of meat you first need to get rid of a piece on the plate. Got it?"_

_Luffy nodded. "Five's a limit, got it."_

_Usopp felt his jaw hit the deck at that. "This is a dream, no doubt about it."_

_And Nami, Nami just burst out laughing, as crazy as it was, it was also rather funny to witness._

"_She's finally gone mad," Zoro commented._

_The orange-haired girl's laughter halted at once and she turned to Zoro with comically shark teeth. "Shut it!"_

_**~X~**_

"But the more I tried to erase them from my memories, the more I remembered them," Nami admitted. Fear was making itself more prominent in her heart, she was almost certain they'd follow her. If for no reason than for Merry and Vergil's machete. She was afraid, afraid for their lives, and afraid of their reaction if she sees them again…

_**~X~**_

_It was an awful storm and the ship sprung a leak._

_"Crap! The water's leaking in!" Usopp panicked._

_"Quick, hold it!" Nami exclaimed as Usopp and Zoro tried to hold it._

_"Leave it to me!" Luffy exclaimed as he pressed his mouth against the hole._

_"That won't solve a thing!" Vergil exclaimed as water-filled Luffy's stomach. The white-haired devil was trying to get to Luffy but it was pretty much too late._

_Water burst out both from the hole and from Luffy's mouth making all five of them burst onto the deck._

_Nami screamed but then felt Vergil catch her and safely land her on the deck while the other three dropped down._

_"Could be worse," Vergil commented with a grin._

_**~X~**_

"For an instant. I forgot the fate I brought upon myself," images of all the other times she spent with the crew, all the fights and things she came to admire about Luffy, it was all overwhelming her, leaving the feeling of warmth in her heart but also strengthening the fear. "I thought that if I could, I would stay with these guys forever," she confessed.

Nojiko was stuck between happiness and remorse, she was happy Nami enjoyed herself, from her story she really did sound like she was having fun. And there was that smile on Nami's face that Nojiko was convinced she wasn't aware of. Yet she was well aware that with the time that happiness would turn into a bitter feeling of regret; because there would be no way for Nami to go back to that crew. Even if things turned out fine with Arlong, she doubted those pirates would actually accept Nami back if she wanted to join them again. "Tell me more about that devil. Vergil, was it?"

Nami nodded. "He offered to help me, not with this, I never told him about Arlong or Krrim," she began, thinking back to the times she was alone with him. "He wanted to go and catch some pirates, get the money from the bounties and give it to me," she looked at the machete and slid her fingers down the dull side again. It seemed to comfort her in some way. "His weapon protected me."

"Why not ask for his help then?" Nojiko asked, she had a point, if the machete alone was strong enough to keep Krrim away Vergil should have no troubles. "Or at least accept money from bounties?"

Nami closed her eyes, ashamed of wasting such an opportunity. "I don't want to profit off of someone dying," even if marines didn't always execute those with bounties that was often the case to showcase their might. To get the money that way was unacceptable for her.

"And his help against Krrim?"

Nami actually lowered her head and covered it with her hands. "I-" she couldn't say it. She couldn't say what was truly on her mind, she couldn't even admit it to herself. "I need to go. Vergil's machete protected me, but it'll make them suspicious if I'm gone for too long."

Nojiko frowned a bit, her glance going to the side, averting from Nami before she simply nodded. There were no goodbyes, nothing, Nami just left, like she always did. It was something they both used to ease their tension, never saying goodbye to one another. Somehow it made them feel like as long as that word wasn't said they would meet again regardless of what happened.

* * *

_**Arlong Park, here we are.**_

* * *

_**Answers on reviews:**_

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_ **V: Please don't die though.**_

_ **It's not that kind of dying.**_

_**V: Well, that was a lot of guests this time around. **_


	13. Broken promise, shattered hope

_**Chapter 13 – Broken promise, shattered hope**_

* * *

As Nami approached the gates of the Arlong Park a single sentence made her blood run cold.

"And what happens if your little hobby makes Nami break?" Arlong questioned. "I'm all for killing that human, but there could be consequences."

Krrim laughed, he sounded so happy. "You didn't talk like that before Hatchan mentioned Nami would be sad," the last part was spoken in a mocking kind of tone. "One less human and if she breaks, well all the better if you ask me. Then she will just stay here and comply to every order she gets, maybe I should have given her sister the same treatment and not just put Genzo to rest," Krrim was obviously satisfied with his work, so satisfied that he couldn't see a single reason why Arlong would have any problems with that.

"Krrim," Nami breathed out, her eyes wide, her breathing uneven and her hands trembling as cold sweat ran down her entire body.

The devil simply smirked as the entire park fell into silence.

"You used that liquid on Gen-san, didn't you…?" the question slipped past Nami's lips in barely more than a whisper, but the devil heard her loud and clear.

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. Why don't you check for yourself? I'd love to accompany you, but you know how busy I am," Krrim taunted her, the sickening, twisted smirk on his face made the answer obvious, he did something.

With everything else pretty much erased for the moment from Nami's mind, only one thought left, going to Genzo. She gritted her teeth; she should have realized something was wrong before. Turning around she began running as quickly as she could back to her village.

She ran, ran away from the laughter echoing and coming from Krrim. She didn't care all she needed to do was see Gen-san, see that perhaps Krrim was just taunting her. She was hoping and in her blind hope, she for a moment thought she was hallucinating when she saw the crew standing in the middle of the road. How did they get a boat this far away from the shore?

"Nami!" Luffy exclaimed, he obviously noticed her just like everyone else.

For a moment she thought about just running past them, but the desperate part of her needed to force them to leave. She needed to make sure she wouldn't lose more people she cared about; even if she was losing them as friends at least they'd still be alive. So she put on a mask, a very fragile mask and hardened her gaze. "Why did you come?"

"What are you talking about? You are my Nakama. I came to get you," Luffy told her, ignorant of how much his words were hurting her right now.

"How annoying," the orange-haired girl simply stated, not before swallowing the lump forming in her throat though.

"Nami?" Luffy questioned.

"Nakama? Don't make me laugh. You are more like a pathetic group of cooperators, don't you think?" Nami stated, her eyes were still void of any emotion.

"Nami! You helped save my village, remember? Let us help you!" Usopp cried out to her, which was rather surprising seeing how frightened of fighting someone dangerous he was.

"I was only after Kuro's treasure. I have nothing to do with fools like you," she showcased the Arlong tattoo on her arm. "I am part of Arlong's crew. Don't you see it, you've been used and tricked. Well, I must say I'm glad I ran across you guys, I've never stolen so much so easily," she did her best to pull off a malicious smirk and even went as far as to raise her head a bit to look down on the crew. "Now that you know I'm a part of the invincible crew leave if you want to stay alive," she was sick of her own words, she'd have to wash her mouth later, but if they left it would be worth it.

She couldn't read Vergil's expression, which was definitely alarming. The devil wasn't exactly an open book but she usually could tell the gist of how he was feeling. Zoro was frowning but Sanji looked love struck…

"Leave, before you pay for your stupidity with your lives, you're trespassing onto Arlong's territory," Nami spoke up, hoping a quick reminder would reach them and just make them leave.

"Her cool look is still so charming," Sanji said lovingly, which was the last thing Nami needed right now. "Hi! Nami-san! It's me! It's me! Do you remember me?" Sanji asked as he began waving his hands around. "Let's go on a cruise together!"

Great, her efforts to make them leave were so far falling to deaf ears.

"You stay out of this! You'll just complicate things!" Zoro snapped at him.

"What did you say?" Sanji asked him. "Love is always a hurricane!" well even as Sanji said that Zoro pretty much ignored him. "Hey! Listen to me when I'm talking!"

Zoro was about to speak but Vergil raised his hand.

"Let me handle this," Vergil told him and step forward. "Say, Nami, why are you telling us all of this? As Arlong's crew member shouldn't you help him capture us?" Vergil inquired.

Her heart skipped a beat when he got closer, there was nothing threatening in the way he moved, he was completely open. "I am a cartographer; I have no need to contribute to Arlong any further. You don't expect me to dirty my hands just for you guys, do you?" Nami replied with a question of her own. It made Zoro growl but that was about it as far as reaction went.

Vergil raised his hands, almost as if he was inviting her to approach him. "Say a word and we'll help you, it's that simple," he was too relaxed, too unaware of what was going on.

Nami clenched her teeth, feeling anger at his nonchalant tone. She didn't have time for this, she needed to go and see Gen-san. "When will you get it into your thick head, I don't care and I don't need your help," Nami glared at him.

"You do, both of those actually," Vergil countered immediately.

"You are delusional," she remarked, taking a slightly deeper breath as he reached out and took a hold of her hand. "What are you-" her eyes widened when he brought her hand up and placed it on the side of her neck, her fingers were resting on the weak spot.

"You know what to do," his eyes challenged her, but Nami knew, if she did what he was challenging her to do, she would without a doubt leave him vulnerable if the crew decided to be stupid and act against Arlong anyway.

He was confidently provoking her into weakening him. It infuriated her; he knew she wouldn't weaken him… Her eyes narrowing sent a clear message to him and he just looked at her.

"What's with the hesitation?" he asked still holding her hand.

Hesitation. Yes, if only she sold the machete. If she didn't chicken out at the last moment Gen-san would have been fine. "Why did you give me this damned machete?"

Vergil raised an eyebrow at that. "It protected you, didn't it?"

"Tell me why! And don't give me that crap about being my friend; you are a devil!" the moment those words left her mouth she regretted them. Sure, he was a devil, but he genuinely cared about the crew.

Vergil's face remained unreadable, completely void of emotion aside from his regular hardened gaze. "It protected you, right? I felt the reaction," he looked at the machete and then back at her eyes. "Sell it if you don't want it. I don't care."

She wanted to scream at him, to make him see there was nothing he could do. Finally, she jerked her hand out of his grip and glared as well as she could. "It's none of your concern. You don't know anything about what's going on this island. Just leave," she demanded. "I don't want you here," she even took a step back.

Vergil took a deep breath. "I don't care about what's going on on this island, I just want to kill Krrim. And you know I can do it."

The nerve of him. She paused for a moment and closed her eyes; once she opened them again she continued the act. "You still don't get it? The only reason I got close to you guys is for the money, nothing else. Now that you guys have nothing you are of no use to me. I'll return the ship. Why don't you go find a navigator and head to the Grand Line. Go find One Piece or whatever. Just get the hell out of here! You are an eyesore!" she told all of them.

"Tell me one thing and I'll leave," he finally said. "But I want an honest answer."

Nami's eyes widened. This was what she wanted, for them to leave, for them to be safe. It was one answer; how bad could it possibly be. She huffed and placed her hands on her hips. "Fine, what is it?"

"Krrim or me?"

Her heart skipped a beat. The honest answer was Vergil, but it would completely destroy the act she was putting on. And just the idea of calling that devil, calling Krrim anything but the enemy was enough to make her feel like throwing up.

"So?" Vergil urged her to answer. "Look me in the eyes just as you did back in your room and pick lesser of two evils. Tell me you'd choose him over me if you're so adamant about being loyal to them."

Nami found it hard to swallow the lump that was forming in her throat. "Stop."

"Stop what? It's an easy question, right?" he was obviously going in with the intention to get the truth out of her.

"Stop it, Vergil," Sanji stepped in and placed a hand on Vergil's shoulder. "You're being inconsiderate."

A vein popped on Vergil's forehead at that. "Surely it's not inconsiderate to ask a question. I mean she is part of Arlong's crew," he jerked his hand towards her tattoo. "It should be an easy answer."

Nami finally managed to swallow the lump in her throat and looked down to her side. It hurt, it was clenching at her heart but she needed to power through it. Just get it over with.

Sanji actually grabbed the collar of Vergil's shirt and pulled him closer. "If it's so easy then quit demanding to hear it," he hissed. And Vergil responded by grabbing his wrist.

"Don't, ever, put anything this close to my neck," he growled, he actually growled.

"Krrim," she finally said.

Vergil's eyes widened and his attention went completely back to her. "What…?" he looked like she just stabbed him in the sides of his neck. He must have believed she would tell the truth and say his name. Or maybe he actually believed her. That shock wasn't caused by disbelief; if she had to guess it was caused by a feeling of betrayal.

"You heard my answer, now…" she took a deep breath and looked at them, her eyes empty and cold. "Farewell," she said firmly and at that moment Luffy's eyes widened a bit.

As the silence took place Luffy closed his eyes and fell down onto his back surprising everyone.

"Luffy-aniki?" Johnny questioned.

"I'm going to sleep," Luffy stated as he placed his arms under his head as a makeshift pillow.

"Sleep?" Johnny repeated.

"Right now? In the middle of the road?" Yosaku asked.

"I don't feel like leaving the island… I don't care what's happening here… I'm a bit sleepy… So I'm sleeping," Luffy stated bluntly, he completely disregarded any desire Nami had to keep them safe when she was trying to get them to leave.

"Big bro," Johnny muttered.

Zoro facepalmed and Vergil sighed.

Nami clenched her fist. "Then… DO WHATEVER YOU WANT! GO AHEAD AND DIE!" Nami screamed at them and ran off, she couldn't stay here, she needed to see Gen-san.

_**~X~**_

Vergil was still shell-shocked by Nami's answer. Frustrated he just sat down next to Luffy.

"Hey, Zoro-aniki. What the hell are you thinking?!" Johnny asked.

"You could end up being Arlong's targets! Why don't you run away?!" Yosaku asked.

Zoro pointed at Luffy and Vergil, the captain was still lying on the ground while Vergil sat next to him. "These two won't leave, there's nothing anyone can do about it," he then looked up. "And something is going on here, Nami needs help, she's just too stubborn to accept it."

"But she said all those things!" Yosaku reminded them.

"No, Nami-san was crying in her heart, moss head is right," Sanji disagreed and pretty much shut down Yosaku's argument as far as he was concerned.

"What was that love cook?!" Zoro's fuse was once again lit by Sanji.

"Come on you two, quit fighting, we need to figure something out," Usopp tried to talk them out of arguing before turning to Vergil. "What do you think?"

Vergil pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't know what to do. I thought just getting rid of the pirates would help, but she… something happened and I don't know how to figure it out," he admitted.

Sanji took a deep breath, taking in as much smoke as he could. "Let's separate. That way we can gather information quicker."

Vergil's eyes widened at the suggestion almost as if it brought back whatever hope Nami managed to drain out of him.

Luffy put his straw hat over his eyes. "I don't care about what's going on," he reminded his crew.

Vergil nodded. "I know. I don't either, but if Nami needs help the more we know the quicker we can react," he reasoned and then stood up. "Think about it this way. If you knew someone could take your meat what would you do?"

Johnny, Yosaku, and Sanji, being new to meat analogies, comically fell to the ground.

"Eat it," Luffy simply replied.

"Then go and eat that meat."

_**~X~**_

Nami's heart nearly stopped when she opened the doors of Nako's hospital and saw Gen-san there, unconscious, the slightest breathing being the only sign of life that was soon going to end if her suspicions were correct.

"Nami…" Nako pretty much gasped when he saw her.

"Krrim did this?" she asked breathlessly as she took a few insecure and desperate steps closer to Gen-san.

"The same as always, he's in a coma and there's nothing we can do," Nako confirmed her worst fear and Nami's world shattered.

_**~X~**_

Nojiko picked up the basket filled with tangerines, the year was fairly good so far. She wanted to make sure things would be as close to the way they used to once Nami was free, but, she couldn't help but have doubts. What if Arlong just captured Nami and kept her locked up once she gathered the money. The villagers would fight, knowing there was no hope left, but there was no way they'd win. Even if Nami's life was on the line they wouldn't be able to win against Arlong.

Sound of shoveling got her attention, maybe Nami came to bury the money she got. That couldn't be right though, she got into a habit of doing it at night over the past few years. When she finally reached her house her heart stopped.

It wasn't Nami.

It was the marines.

"What do you think you're doing?! This is trespassing!" she stomped over to the nearest marine, a captain with a mouse-like face.

"Chichichi, who are you going to call? Marines?" he was taunting her and then motioned to his men. "We have received reports that there are stolen goods on this property, naturally we're here to confiscate the treasure."

Nojiko's eyes widened, she was speechless. Arlong, he had to be behind this. There was no one else that knew and the villagers would never betray Nami. "Is that your priority? When a pirate crew is holding this entire island enslaved?!" she demanded angrily.

Yet the marine captain just chuckled. "Are you disobeying me, girl?"

Nojiko bit her lower lip and clenched her fist. "We need that treasure! Leave!" she demanded, though it was obviously futile.

"You still haven't found it? It's a hundred million beri, not a needle!"

The smirk on his face said it all, Arlong truly was behind this. All those times Nami came back injured, shot even came to Nojiko's mind and she snapped. "STOP!" she couldn't let this happen, she couldn't let all of Nami's hard work, those eight years, go to waste like this. So why was she on the ground? Why was her shirt getting warmer?

She reached down and touched the side of her waist. Blood.

She just got shot and in her anger, she didn't even realize it.

"Nami…"

_**~X~**_

Follow the road, Vergil told them, it'll be easy, he told them. So why the hell did he and Luffy and up in the middle of a forest? Zoro wanted to curse the stupid luck that got him stuck with someone who so obviously lacked any sense of direction.

When Usopp suggested they should decide who is going with who by drawing numbers he didn't imagine this was how things would end up. Well, at least he wasn't with that Love cook.

Luffy was looking ahead with the side of his hand against his forehead. "Hmmm… where is that road?" he wondered more to himself than anything else.

"Let's go this way," Zoro decided and just picked a random path. They'd eventually end up somewhere.

_**~X~**_

While Luffy and Zoro were finding a way out of the forest, Vergil, along with Johnny and Yosaku, stumbled upon the very evidence of Arlong's cruelty. Gosa, completely destroyed.

He observed the damage, there was blood splattered across the walls, it was dry, but he could still recognize it and there were traces of a water devil's power still lingering in the air.

As expected from the place no one lived in any longer. Battles seemed to stick longer in the places that are left abandoned by the survivors from what he had learnt.

"Vergil-aniki, I have a bad feeling about this place," Johnny trembled behind him and Yosaku wasn't doing much better.

Deep within his soul though, he felt wrath, not his own, but the one radiating off of his machete. It could only be Nami's and he was afraid. It shouldn't have happened; he shouldn't have felt any of her emotions influencing the weapon. But it was wrath, the emotion closest to lightning so that was why he could feel the slightest reactions of his demon forged. But if the feeling was this specific it could only mean one thing. Nami was way beyond anger.

There was no time to try and find the others… he needed to get to her, fast! "Johnny! Yosaku! Find the others, Nami needs help!" he didn't wait for their response he ran off in the direction of his machete.

_**~X~**_

Sanji and Usopp went through the forest, though the one on the opposite side of the road compared to Luffy and Zoro. They were mostly trying to find someone else while avoiding any potential enemies.

"Why do you think Nami is doing this? I mean she helped save my village and she looked like she was having fun," Usopp wondered, he really didn't understand what was going on.

"There's definitely a reason. Nami-san was crying back there," Sanji didn't know the exact reasoning behind Nami's actions but he certainly seemed to trust her.

Usopp tilted his head, he didn't see any tears. "Crying?" he repeated.

Sanji simply nodded, still not looking at Usopp and instead focusing on their surroundings. "She was crying in her heart."

Usopp thought it over for a few moments. Maybe she was, after all, it wouldn't be the first time she said one thing and then did the complete opposite. She said she wouldn't leave her treasure and then she didn't hesitate for a second when she offered to go and check on Vergil for whatever reason. "But why do that to Vergil? I mean those two are really close," he was mostly talking to himself at that point but Sanji completely halted.

"Nami-san and that shitty devil?" he wasn't exactly sounding happy.

Still, Usopp nodded. "I mean they aren't that close but she's definitely closer to Vergil than to me," and probably Luffy and Zoro too. And from what he saw Vergil wasn't exactly indifferent to her either.

A woman screaming 'stop' and a gunshot made them both halt.

"A lady is in danger, come on!" Sanji didn't even leave him a second to argue or think of a plan. He just ran in the direction of the scream and Usopp, not wanting to be on his own, followed.

_**~X~**_

Nami stomped into the Arlong Park, panting out of anger and slight exhaustion after running for so long.

"Oh? I see you got your answer," Krrim taunted her much to the amusement of the fishmen.

"Why did you do it?" Nami actually growled, daring the devil to answer.

"You see, Nami, this is what you get when you cross the line. You should be thankful, after all-" for the very first time in eight years Krrim was silenced by Nami.

She fought back and she did so rather effectively by squeezing the devil's neck as hard as she could. It didn't matter that the fishmen were laughing, all that mattered was Vergil being right. Krrim was utterly out of strength, unable to even stay on his feet and it caused both him and Nami to collapse.

"You- little bitch," Krrim gasped, trying to push her off, yet he couldn't even move.

Nami could only hear the pinwheel spinning; only see the face of the man closest to being a father to her than anyone else. Her time with Gen-san flashed in front of her eyes, Bell-mére as well and at that moment she reached out, taking the machete Vergil gave her. She was pushed over the edge and ready to use the weapon.

Krrim's eyes widened, the weapon, she was going to kill him, he wasn't doubting that a bit. And as his crew continued laughing, taunting Nami believing she couldn't do it Krrim was on the verge of falling apart. He didn't know whose weapon the wretched machete was, he only knew that it could potentially react to the slightest desire to kill, depending on the one that pretty much fed it a part of their soul.

"Nami, please don't, I'm begging you don't do this," he broke down, begging for his life, desperation as evident in his voice as was his fear.

Nami halted, she knew she shouldn't, but she did.

"I don't want to die, I'm sorry Nami, I'm begging you, just don't kill me," the devil that spent the last eight years torturing her was close to crying at this point.

Nami hated Krrim, now more than ever. Now that she was so close to freeing her village he robbed her of someone she loved. Every moment she spent at his mercy, everything she lost because of him and his captain. He deserved to die, yet... The machete dropped to the concrete next to them and her grip loosened before she got up and stepped back.

Krrim, still trembling, watched the machete. _'How dare she do this to me?!'_ he was pissed off, enraged by what Nami tried to do. She made him beg. A human made him beg! Before Nami could react he was back on his feet, still slightly disoriented but well enough to grab her by the neck and slam his fist onto her stomach.

Nami nearly fainted right then and there as the pain became everything she was aware of. She felt her back slamming against the ground and blood trailing down from her mouth. Faintly she heard Arlong telling Krrim to stop and Krrim yelling that they better stay out of this. He probably threatened them with whatever he did to Gen-san, Nami didn't know, all she knew was that this was not over.

She heard lightning crackling around her, Krrim screaming in utter frustration and she briefly opened her eyes to see him kicking against the mass of lightning that was protecting her. The machete... Vergil...

Krrim stopped and picked the weapon up and in one final burst of defiance lightning burnt his palm and the weapon shattered.

Nami closed her eyes, now there was nothing left to save her from this. And as Krrim raised his fist to hit her again she thought she was hallucinating. Electric blue lightning shook the ground and Krrim was sent flying away.

_**~X~**_

Shitty marine bastards, lately they've been pissing him off again and again. His blood boiled and he bit his cigarette in half when he realized a lady had been shot. Evidently by the shitty marine holding the gun right in front of her. "You bastard, how dare you hurt a lady?" he growled as he ran forward. The first priority, get the lady to safety and protect her, second priority kick them all to hell. Third priority, none.

"And you are?" the marine dared to look down on him.

Sanji quickly wiped the arrogant look off of the man's face by kicking him right in the jaw. Carefully he checked the lady's wound, it wasn't lethal, but he would have to be careful. "Hold on, you're safe now," he turned to Usopp. "Usopp give me some cover!"

But the long-nosed boy looked frightened. "H-How?"

Sanji sighed, he saw Usopp's skill with the slingshot, if only he wasn't such a coward. "Just shoot them if they try to shoot!" he could dodge a few bullets, but it would be better to play safe with an injured lady in his arms.

"Don't move!" the marines raised their rifles and pointed them at him.

Sanji glared at the marines so menacingly they froze on spot. "If a single one of you shoots in the general direction of the lady you're all dead!" he pointed his finger at them before carefully lifting the injured lady.

"Forget them, just find the money," marine he kicked before spat and it made Sanji even angrier, to think they'd hurt a lady over some money.

"Stop them, please… That money is…" the blue-haired lady breathed out and then winced as she tried to move.

"Don't worry about it, all that matters is your safety," Sanji assured her as he returned to where Usopp was.

"No," she reached up and grabbed his shoulder. "Nami has been saving it up. I can't," she took a deep breath despite the pain. "I can't let them take it."

Sanji's eyes widened. This lady knew Nami-san.

"Nami? You know her?" Usopp asked.

"Please, stop them," the lady pleaded, tears appeared in the corners of her eyes, but it wasn't pain from the wound that caused them.

Sanji felt his heart clench at her pain and pleas. Gently he set her down on the ground and turned around. These marines were going to pay for hurting her so much.

_**~X~**_

Lightning danced around Vergil's body, no it wasn't dancing, it was violently crackling, crashing against the concrete and making it crack even if it was just a bit. If attacking wouldn't leave Nami completely defenseless he would have already attacked.

"B-Black Thunder?!" the devil, Krrim, screamed.

Vergil looked back at Nami, she took a few hits, there was blood trailing down from the corner of her lips.

Vergil saw red.

"I'm not going to just kill you, no," darkness began engulfing the lightning. "I am going to _**obliterate you!**_" like before his eyes were going from yellow to red, his body was damn near ready to go into Half-awakened state and his lightning merged with darkness forming the very power he got his epithet from.

Krrim tried to get up but he was too shaken up to even attempt that. "Wait, I can explain," tears, just what was missing.

Vergil couldn't remember the last time he felt this much rage towards a devil. This much desire to kill.

"All right, that's enough," a large fishman, Arlong if Vergil remembered the face on the wanted poster correctly, stood up. "You're a devil so I'll let you leave," he offered and walked over to Vergil.

"Arlong-san! We can handle one devil; you don't need to get involved!" someone shouted.

Arlong snorted. "Krrim's about to piss himself just looking at this one. Leave Nami and go," Arlong demanded, not wanting to back away but not necessarily wanting to fight either.

Vergil was about to direct his anger at the fishman but Nami groaned. He instantly looked back and saw her eyes opening slightly.

"Ver-" she coughed a few times. "Vergil?"

He knelt down next to her and lifted her up a bit. "Easy, I've got you," he assured her, anger slowly diminishing and being overtaken by his concern for her. It seemed to ease her as she leaned into him and closed her eyes.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Krrim getting up and launching a desperate handful of water projectiles at high speed, all of them went for Nami.

Instantly anger returned and his eyes turned red. With a battle cry, a sensation he didn't feel for two years appeared on his shoulder blades. His shirt ripped on the back and a pair of feathered wings appeared, black on the outside and black and red on the inside. He wrapped the wings around Nami and took the impact of the attack head-on.

"Attack him!" Krrim cried out desperately.

The attack finally stopped roughly ten seconds later and he opened his wings to push two of the fishmen back. Before anyone could react he shot black sparks towards his broken machete and made it fling into his hand. Electricity gathered around it heating it up beyond its limit. He turned to Krrim and threw the broken machete right towards the devil's heart. Without waiting to see the results Vergil took flight and fled the Arlong Park with Nami safely in his arms.

_**~X~**_

If there was one thing Usopp was very grateful for it was the fact he had four monster strong crewmates on his side. Especially now that he was watching Sanji easily beat the lives out of the marines. Grand Line would be a walk through the park with these guys. Well, unless they run into that swordsman again, but how many people as strong as he could be there anyway? Certainly not that many, right?

Still the tattooed girl was shot and she needed medical attention quickly. She managed to sit up and immediately winced, her hand grabbed onto the painful area and she bit her lower lip.

"Take it easy, you shouldn't move," Usopp steadied her, careful not to cause her any more pain.

"Amazing," she whispered as she looked at the defeated marines.

Usopp grinned confidently. "Yup, that's my crew's cook!"

Her eyes immediately widened as she turned to look at him. "Crew? You guys are pirates?"

He nodded. "Yeah, we came here looking for Nami," he explained as Sanji came back to their side.

Sanji knelt down in front of the girl before she got the chance to say anything. "Everything will be fine now, miss-" he paused finally making both him and Usopp aware they didn't know the girl's name

"Nojiko," she said and then looked at Usopp. "Why are you looking for Nami?"

"Nojiko-chan, we want to help Nami-san, but we don't know what's going on," Sanji explained as he carefully picked Nojiko back up. "But first we need to get you to the hospital."

Nojiko looked like she was going to protest but the pain made her give up on that. "Thanks, I can't let Nami see me like this."

"How do you know Nami-san, Nojiko-chan?" Sanji asked and began walking.

Usopp wasn't sure why he decided to go that way but then he noticed smoke coming from few places. There was probably a village in that direction.

"She's my sister," Nojiko revealed and Usopp nearly tripped, of all the people to run into and save.

"No wonder you're so beautiful!" did Sanji's legs just turn to noodles? And he had that same love-struck tone.

"Uh, what should we do about the marines?" Usopp realized they were pretty much leaving unconscious marines on their own.

"Just tie them up; you have some ropes, right?" Sanji nonchalantly just left him to do the task on his own. "Nojiko-chan is our top priority right now."

Usopp rolled his eyes at that and muttered Love Cook under his breath. Carefully he went over to the marines and nudged one with his foot. Still unconscious. He proceeded to tie them up, although for some reason it looked like the mouse-like marine was missing… Ah, he was probably wrong.

Deciding that the job was well done he quickly ran after Sanji.

It was easy to find the hospital, with Nojiko pointing the way and when the doctor saw her he immediately got to work. Usopp and Sanji just sat there in the meantime on the bed next to another patient. For some reason, the pale skin of the scarred man freaked him out a bit. He looked like he was about to die. Oh, and they ran into Johnny and Yosaku along the way.

Half an hour later the doctor was done and was washing the blood off his hands, it took some work but he closed the wound.

"And that's when Vergil-aniki just ran off," Yosaku was finishing up the story about what their group found.

"He said something about Nami-aneki being in danger," Johnny added.

"WHAT?! That shitty devil better protect Nami-san even if it kills him!" Sanji roared and jumped to his feet.

"Calm down! Vergil's got it!" Usopp tried to pull him back down before he could run off as well. They really didn't need to separate any further.

"You guys are the crew she was sailing with, right?" Nojiko, though looking extremely worried, asked.

Usopp finally looked at Nojiko and nodded. "Yeah, she was there even before me, maybe even Zoro from what I gathered. She really looked like she was having fun so it really surprised us when she turned out to be working with another crew," now that Nojiko's treatment was done he wanted to get some answers. "Say, Nojiko, why is Nami with those fishmen?"

Nojiko looked at the doctor and he nodded.

"I'll tell you everything," she finally spoke up and Usopp swallowed hard, this was the information they were missing.

_**~X~**_

Luffy was confused, they were back where they began, at the boat. And he was so sure they went in the opposite way as well. Oh well, maybe they got lost.

"How did the cook's boat get here?" Zoro wondered as he bent slightly forward to examine it. "It's the same boat."

"Zoro, we got lost," Luffy said bluntly.

Zoro just looked at him and then looked down the road. "Vergil," he motioned behind Luffy.

Well, the problem solved. "Hey! Vergil!" Luffy turned around and waved at his first mate. He would know where to go. But, didn't Vergil go with Johnny and Yosaku?

"Where are Johnny and Yosaku?" Zoro asked once Vergil got closer and then they both halted.

Nami was on Vergil's back. "Nami!" Luffy ran to meet Vergil and Zoro was quick to follow. "What happened?"

"Krrim, the devil on Arlong's crew," Vergil was pissed off, really pissed off. He didn't sound like it, but Luffy could see the scowl on his face and the way his jaw was clenched. "Luffy, even if Nami doesn't ask for help by tomorrow I'm killing that devil."

Looking at the blood coming from the corner of Nami's mouth and the general state his nakama was in there was no doubt in Luffy's or Zoro's mind. That crew was going to pay for doing this. "We'll kick their asses," Luffy declared.

"I'd love to go there now," Zoro pretty much growled, gripping his katana. "But Nami needs to see a doctor, after that we'll see what happens."

Vergil nodded and motioned them in the direction they came from. "She went that way last time, maybe we can reach a village or something if we go that way."

That was as good of a plan as they needed.

_**~Thanatos~**_

Galina slammed her fist into the steel wall leaving a bent area right in the middle of the wall. "Damn it!" she yelled feeling like she should rip her hair out right then and there. If her hair wasn't already white it would have turned gray by now due to her half-brother. "If this keeps going he'll shatter Perun himself in no time," she wanted to scream, to get to her idiotic half-brother and beat some sense into him.

"Calm down," her father wasn't showing even the slightest sign of frustration, again; it was always like this with him.

"It's always no big deal, huh? Years of work are about to go to waste because Vergil decides to throw caution to the wind and get close to someone again and still just fuck it, it's no big deal!" she was gradually raising her tone until she was full-blown screaming at Acharon.

Acharon waved her off, basically dismissing everything she just said. He even turned away from her and nonchalantly looked at Perun still somehow contained away from Vergil. "Just take a bit of the soul and contain it in one of the broken Devil Arms."

Galina wanted to yell at him, but at this point, or rather for as long as she knew him, words just never worked with her father. Suppressing her anger and frustration she did as she was told.

"With that attitude, I'm surprised you didn't end up with lightning. That was the wrath of lightning through and through. Perhaps you were too influenced by Vergil and Grom's attitudes," Acharon commented casually and Galina, not knowing what else to do just let out a gust of wind at him. It didn't work, as old as he was, he was still strong enough to form a shield of solidified darkness in a blink of an eye.

She shut her eyes, biting back the pure anger she was feeling. How dare he mention them so casually?

_**~The Human World~**_

It turned out Vergil's assumption was correct, they did come upon a village, though it looked a bit empty at first glance. Vergil turned his head a bit to look at Nami, she was still unconscious.

"Leave Na-chan alone you monster!" a child's voice got his attention as he, Luffy, and Zoro turned to look at a small girl, probably about twelve years old.

"What did you do to Nami?!" soon enough pretty much the entire village was outside and surrounding them with shovels, pitchforks and similar objects.

"We didn't hurt Nami! It was the other devil!" Luffy told them and surprisingly they all lowered their pitchforks and other tools.

"Krrim?" one of the villagers asked carefully.

Vergil nodded.

"Curse him, how dare he do that to our Na-chan," another villager seemed close to tears as he said that.

Vergil glanced at Nami. _'Na-chan? That's too cute for you,_' he couldn't keep the smallest smile off his face. Although maybe it wasn't too cute.

"We need to get her to the hospital, mind showing us the way?" Zoro stepped forward.

A slightly older woman nodded. "Come, I'll show you to doctor Nako's place."

The trio followed after her. The village was fairly small, so it really didn't take them long to get to the doctor.

The woman knocked on the door. "Nako-san, it's Nami, Krrim hurt her."

Immediately the doors opened but it was a very familiar face, one that had curly eyebrows. "You, shitty devil you had one thing you needed to do!" Sanji looked ready to kick Vergil into the ground and he likely would have done so if Nami wasn't still on Vergil's back.

Vergil just moved past the surprised woman and enraged cook and went inside. "Kick me all you want after this is all over," he offered and saw a human wearing a white coat. "Nako, right?" he gently set Nami down on one of the beds and moved away.

"Nami!" a blue haired female probably a bit younger than Vergil but still older than the rest of the crew rushed to Nami's side. Vergil noticed the bandage around her waist, but it looked like she either ignored the pain to get to Nami or it wasn't that serious. With the way she was looking, he guessed it was the former option.

"Who d-did that to her?" Usopp was trembling as he looked at Nami, she wasn't too bruised, but it was obvious whoever hurt her wasn't pulling back their punches. What with bloody lips, dirt all over her clothes, scrapped knee and a bruise on her forearm. She probably got bruises beneath her shirt as well.

"Krrim," Vergil spat the bastard's name. "I couldn't make it in time."

"You probably saved her life," Nako said as he took a closer look at her. "She'll recover quickly, but it could have been really nasty."

The girl turned to look at him. "Thank you, thank you so much."

"Nojiko is Nami's sister," Usopp whispered into Vergil's ear when he realized Vergil was confused by the reaction.

Vergil's eyes widened slightly before he nodded. "Don't mention it, I wish it didn't go this far in the first place."

While the doctor was checking Nami's injuries Vergil noticed a scarred man lying on the bed. His eyes widened, that was without a doubt an effect of a Soul Breaker. If this was Nami's village and she actually cared about this man that could explain everything. "So that's what made her so angry," Vergil realized and walked over to the raven haired human. "What's his name?"

"Hmm? It's Genzo," Nojiko replied, though even without looking at her he could hear the confusion in her voice. "Why do you ask?"

It would be reckless but… this human would just die if he didn't do anything. Vergil looked at Nami, all that pain, that reckless behavior, caused by this man's current state. That was enough of a reason for Vergil. "I need to know that; if I want to wake him up."

The doctor immediately turned around. "You can do that?!"

Vergil didn't respond for a few moments.

"Please tell me you can do it," Nami's sister, despite still being injured got next to him and grabbed his shoulders. "Please, we can't let him die like this."

Vergil sighed. "I can't guarantee this will work. It might already be too late, but I'll try. I can promise you that," he'd do it. For Nami. He walked over to Nami and gently moved a strand of her hair away from her eyes. "So rest up and don't worry about it. I'm not coming back without him," he whispered, though he found it stupid. She couldn't hear him.

Luffy patted him on the back with a large grin on his face.

"I'll need a bit of help, Luffy," he went over to one of the beds and lied down. "Just squeeze my neck like usual. For five seconds."

"Got it!" Luffy touched his neck surprisingly carefully considering how he usually was and then squeezed.

Vergil placed his palm over his heart. "Everything will be fine. Don't panic," he assured them with a small grin on his face and charged electricity right through his heart while Luffy was still holding his neck. Momentarily his heart stopped and restarted again the moment Luffy let go.

_**~X~**_

Krrim was breathing heavily as his injury was treated by the crew's doctor. That blasted devil… if he didn't use the ocean to stop the machete he would have been dead by now. The damned monster put so much lightning into the broken weapon it ended up melting.

"Cleaning the wound is all I could do," he ignored the words, he knew there was nothing they could do to fix hand, up to his thumb, completely obliterated. He looked down, the broken Demon Forged didn't spill a drop of blood, the heat of the electricity automatically electro-cauterized the remains of his hand.

Arlong walked in, more furious than Krrim had seen him in the last eight years. They were just schooled by a single devil.

"I told you he'd be dangerous," Krrim hissed, with most of his left hand gone his fighting capability was decreased. Not that he thought it would help. As he was he couldn't even hope to match that much destructive power.

"Use the Devil Trigger and destroy Cocoyashi village. But take Nami alive, we still need her," Arlong's order was direct and Krrim appreciated that. He wanted to personally take revenge. Consequences be damned. If that devil thought he could get away with this, well he was mistaken. Even if he died he would make Nami suffer and Arlong's order be damned, at least half of it, she was dying today as well.

"Consider it destroyed," he declared and got up.

_**~X~**_

When Vergil opened his eyes he found himself in between the realms, at the gates where souls of living that recently died entered the Mid-dimension naturally. Mid-dimension, the realm of death where no living creature can survive. That's the outer layer, to keep the living from disturbing the natural process of death. The inner area is the realm of the souls, the endless space where souls exist.

Thirteen years ago he was here for a different purpose, to create his own Devil Arm and seal the fate of his soul.

"Zduhach!" he pretty much roared and he needed to do it, otherwise the creature he was calling out for may not pay attention to him. "I know you hear me, get here before I disrupt this entire realm!"

It worked; shapeless red mist appeared in front of him. To anyone, it would have looked like a really strange mist, but Vergil knew what, or rather who this was.

"_**Cambion,**_" the voice of the creature was disembodied, just like Vergil's was when he was in his half-awakened state. "_**You do not belong.**_"

Vergil glared at the thing he could only classify as creature. This wasn't a demon, a devil, a human, any animal, or a soul, Zduhach was, quite plain and simple, Zduhach. "You know, for an ancient timeless something you sure speak like you were born in this time," he pointed out, growling at the creature for speaking in a tone that sounded like it pretty much mocked the living.

"_**Such is the nature of the soul collector. Speaking of souls, I already granted you your Devil Arm, you have no business, nor will you ever for that matter, here,**_" Zduhach reminded him, it sounded amused by Vergil's presence, by those red eyes.

"You didn't grant me anything, Perun is a part of my soul," Vergil had to bite out the reminder. "I'm looking for a man named Genzo, brought here by Soul Breaker."

"_**Life of one mortal hardly matters,**_" Zduhach remarked and it seemed like it was turning around.

"I'm not leaving without him," Vergil threatened.

The creature laughed and then everything stopped. Vergil dropped to his knees, feeling like his very soul was being torn apart. "_**Ah, yes, your soul may be quite primitive, but even I can't deny it is resilient. Even now that it's only 55% of its former state. You may go, Perun.**_"

Vergil raised his head, glaring back at the creature. "It's Vergil, you primordial sack of arrogance."

"_**I'll call you by the name I gave your Devil Arm, cambion, no matter what you say to me. Now off you go, before that human you don't even know succumbs to the flows of this realm and dies,**_" with that the creature disappeared. Behind the place, it stood before a door appeared, a simple wooden door leading to Genzo.

"Really encouraging," Vergil grumbled and walked through the doors.

* * *

_**And now we are sort of at the same point, as far as Vergil's part of the arc goes, as we were when I stopped last time. So, we are technically completely caught up.**_

_**I have to say I had some issues piecing everything together with this arc, for once I had very little anime/manga to rely on. Now, don't expect every arc to be this different from the original, especially if we're looking at shorter arcs, like Reverse Mountain. I will change certain things, but certainly not at this level. One thing I know is that once Robin gets here, we'll have more space to change stuff. As you've seen here, Sanji-Vergil combo persuaded Luffy to move, which caused a change. Similar events will be easier to logically pull off, with or without Vergil, once Robin is on the crew. Also, Sanji was actually quite difficult to write. Even though I wrote quite a few of his scenes before. I knew how he would react, but I found it hard to find the right dialogue. In the end I went for concerned going into somewhat flirty once Nojiko was safe.**_

_**Now, one thing I really want to address is Vergil's rage scene. I really wasn't sure what to write there. At first I went with Vergil completely dominating those few paragraphs. Then I went with a bit more subdued, focused on escape Vergil. Eventually, I settled for what you've got, rage with concern.**_

* * *

_**Answers on reviews:**_

_**Before I start this, I just want to thank all of you for pretty much skyrocketing the reviews, like I don't think I've ever gotten this much support this quickly, even when original Black Thunder was in Alabasta.**_

_**muhamed3871 – Well, I think it's better and I hope you'll think so too. Although it's been like four years since I first wrote that… and over two years since I deleted it so I really don't expect anyone to remember much of it.**_

_**Guest – Thank you.**_

_**Sagicknight - :)**_

_ **V: What kind of response is that?**_

_ **A face that's smiling.**_

_**Guest – Thank you, I'll do my best to keep the updates frequent.**_

_**JESSICADELGADO40782 – Glad you enjoy it.**_

_ **V: My Author might not seem like it, but she's actually friendly. So, feel free to send her a PM if you'd like. I mean if seeing your name here made you so excited.**_

_**Guest – It'll be better soon.**_

_ **V: More of those strange marks… interesting…**_

_**Guest – And here's another one and while things do need to go down a bit longer for Nami, it'll get better soon. Cakes! I want chocolate ones!**_

_ **V: Imagine if you had to explain everything in meat, that would make you even hungrier.**_

_**KP360 – You're absolutely right, Arlong Park is just plain and simple one of the best arcs. I mean it's short enough to watch fairly quickly, even quicker to read, it doesn't get boring, it's emotional, it's-**_

_ **V: We get it, you love the arc.**_

_ **Fine, fine… Krrim is a bit different as far as his connections go, first time he was connected to Kaltag, this time around, he's not. As a character though, I guess he is essentially the same.**_

_ **V: Well, a bit of healthy competition doesn't hurt. Who can get to time-skip sooner? Could help with motivation.**_

_ **You're really fixated on that idea, huh? Be happy you won't get another rewrite and pray you'll survive.**_

_ **V: Now that's just ironic.**_

_ **Anyway, yeah, I guess I've been really motivated lately and I do hope to actually get to Skypiea by the end of the year.**_

_**scarlet rose white – It won't be long until the fight starts and technically this chapter has a bit of action.**_


	14. Help me

_**Chapter 14 – Help me**_

* * *

Nojiko was struggling to stay on her feet, everything just came crashing down on her. First Gen-san, then Arlong sends marines to steal Nami's money and now Nami was beaten up by Krrim.

To make things even worse their future was in the hands of a handful of pirates with a devil on their crew. A devil that was currently trying to save Gen-san.

Slowly he reached out and took Nami's arm into her own, ignoring everything that was going on around her. She knelt down, unable to stay up any longer and brought Nami's hand closer to her. She leaned her forehead against Nami's fingers and did her best to stifle and sound that threatened to escape.

'_Please, just please wake up_,' she ignored the hand someone placed on her shoulder.

But she heard him loud and clear. "Nami-san will be fine, we promise we won't let them get away with this," the words were soothing and she dared to believe. Because if the yelling outside was any indication the villagers were about to march into their deaths.

_**~X~**_

Vergil mentally prepared himself as he stepped into the village he was in before. This time it was truly empty, but he could see a large ship belonging to Arlong at the shore. Zduhach had a strange way of dealing with the dead. Souls carried memories, as such when a person died, at least a person that didn't create a Devil Arm, they were in for a bit of a test. If the dead soul held a deep regret they'd just become another mindless soul in the Mid-dimension, meant to kill whoever slipped into the Mid-dimension while still alive. Of course, cambion, as neither human nor devil was immune to those souls, hence he could pull Genzo out before it was too late.

He looked around and saw there were footprints on the ground, not too deep, but clearly too big to be made by regular humans. Fishmen perhaps? The footsteps led outside of the village, deeper into the forest. He didn't try to hide or do anything besides walking. There was nothing he or anyone else could do here.

No matter what, the past couldn't be changed. Not even Zduhach, as powerful as it was, could change something that already happened.

A gunshot resounded through the air and the birds that were hiding in the trees quickly took flight towards the village, in the opposite direction of the potential danger.

"BELL-MERE-SAN!"

Vergil's eyes widened at that, that was definitely Nami's voice, even if she sounded like a child there was no mistaking it.

It was stupid, he knew there was nothing he could do so why? Why was he running? The only reason why he was dodging the trees and branches was, well, because it was his instinct. He finally saw a large group of humans and fishmen by a small house and tangerine orchard. He saw a woman's body, lying on the grass, shot straight through the head with a puddle of blood staining her fuchsia hair. Bell-mere, he assumed. And there Genzo was, on his knees right next to her crying his heart out, but his tears didn't fall on anything, just went through.

"Genzo," Vergil spoke up and felt his breath get stuck in his lungs when he saw Nami. Small, vulnerable, and frightened with tears streaming down her face.

Genzo didn't respond, instead, he tried to stop an octopus fishmen from taking something from Bell-mere's pocket.

"You can't change it, past is past," he went and pulled the man back.

Genzo, still in tears, turned his head towards Vergil and his eyes widened. "What are you?!"

"A devil," he scanned the group and located Krrim. "Like that one over there," he motioned towards smirking devil.

"That's a special map that I drew! Give that back!" Nami's shout brought them both back to the moment and Vergil pieced it together, finally.

"So that's how she…" he nearly went in between Nami and the same octopus fishman. He had to jerk his body back just to stay in place. He couldn't change it; he was powerless to change it. But even with that, all he felt was pure unadulterated wrath, even if it killed him he would make sure Arlong and his crew paid, he'd kill anyone that tried to stop him.

"Nami!" Genzo, taking the opportunity while Vergil was focused on restraining himself tried to stop the fishman from grabbing Nami.

It was futile he just went through.

"Stop! Let go, let go of me! I don't wanna go!" Nami's screams were painful to listen to. Haunting even. A child that just lost someone dear to her being forcefully taken away. And there was no way she he could be older than ten, maybe eleven.

Lightning crackled around him as Nami continued screaming and memory Genzo tried to stop them. But he was no match. He was cut down.

"Gen-san! Gen-san! Gen-san!" she kept calling out for the man and he somehow managed to get up.

"It's okay! Enough already! You don't have to save me, please, just-!"

Vergil snapped and shot multiple lightning strikes at fishmen, it all passed through. He didn't exist here, this was just a memory and it was the weakest he felt in such a long time. "DAMN IT ALL!" he cried out as the world around them began fading away. The last thing both he and Genzo heard was Nami crying out.

"I don't want anyone else to die!"

The scene began shifting into plain and simple emptied Cocoyashi village and Vergil realized what was going on. Genzo was giving up.

The man in question fell to his knees and looked at his hands.

"Gen-san! Gen-san!"

Nami's screams from the time she called for his help were echoing all around them.

"She is alive and she will be fine. But only if you snap out of it," Vergil walked over to the man and sat down next to him.

"Who are you?" Genzo asked after what seemed like an eternity, though it was probably less than half a minute.

"Depends, a devil, a pirate, your ticket out of here, Nami's friend, really it simply depends on what comes first to you," Vergil replied way too casually. "We could start from Leonidas Vergil, though."

"I don't want a devil's help," a Genzo said that Cocoyashi Village began changing. The buildings were starting to crack and there were drops of blood here and there.

Vergil looked around. "I'm not here to help you, just to get you out. You need to help yourself first."

Same situation as thirteen years ago, just a different, way different place. He honestly hoped back then that he would never get into a similar situation.

"Why?" Genzo's voice gave away just how tired he felt. "Why show me all the times I was happy only to tear it all away in one single memory?"

"Can you find joy in those happy moments despite the tragedy? Can you look back and say your deepest regret, the memory that haunts you, doesn't overpower everything good that happened?" Vergil sighed and looked at his hands. "Many can't, for some reason the flip from happiness to their biggest tragedy just destroys them. Mid-dimension is brimming with that kind of soul. You're still not dead though, it doesn't have to end here."

Genzo looked at him for the second time since they met. "What's the point? They'll just kill me," he was defeated.

The village crumbled, leaving only broken buildings and blood splattered all over it.

"Because by the end of the day Nami will be free and Arlong will be defeated. My crew and I will make sure of that," Vergil promised, after what he saw there was no more need to wait. With or without Nami's request, he'd go and kill Krrim.

_**~X~**_

Krrim was in the water, a bit further away from the gates to the Arlong Park. "How much longer until you can transform?" Arlong asked him, the fishman was standing on the other side of the wall.

"A bit more. There's a marine ship heading here," he informed Arlong, his eyes were already completely yellow, a minute or so to go and he'd transform.

"We'll just pay them to stay silent," Arlong decided, nonchalantly.

A minute passed and Krrim pulled out a vial. "No, they'll all die," he popped the vial open.

Arlong clicked his tongue. "Don't be too reckless, make sure they can't contact anyone else."

Krrim smirked as he swallowed the liquid and the ocean began engulfing him. "_**No problem, they are all about to die,**_" his voice was disembodied and the transformation was in progress.

_**~X~**_

Vergil watched as Genzo's eyes widened and then he chuckled, but it held no happiness. It was a laughter of utter disbelief.

"Pirates are going to save us? A red-eyed devil is going to save us? Don't mock eight years of our suffering!" he actually tried to grab Vergil's collar only to get his hand stopped before he even got close.

"Please, enlighten me, how were you going to get saved?" Vergil already had a basic idea of what happened. Nami made a deal and it involved getting those damned hundred million.

Genzo looked away. "Nami made a deal with Arlong. If she gives him a hundred million beri we'll be free," he explained.

"And what did you do?" Vergil's voice got slightly deeper as anger began rising inside of him.

Genzo looked him in the eyes. "We endured, as long as she was fine, we endured."

Nami's unconscious form flashed in front of Vergil's eyes. Her scream during her night terror echoed in his mind. His sclera turned red and he slammed Genzo against the ground, not caring one bit that the village was starting to show signs of age taking its toll on it.

"_**You mean eight years of letting a child fight for you? Eight years of her having nightmares! Eight years of her risking her life and being on the same crew as the ones she hates!**_" he roared and if they both weren't outside of their physical bodies Genzo probably would have died with how much force Vergil used.

Genzo looked away, there was no pain, just shock. Perks of being merely a soul. "She doesn't know we know. Our hopes weren't holding her back if she chose to escape on her own," the words that were meant to ease the raging devil caused the opposite effect.

Vergil punched right next to his head with so much strength ground caved in and formed a crater around them. "_**How dare you… How dare you leave a single CHILD to fight your battle on HER OWN?! Is your safety worth-**_" he punched again, making the crater even larger and deeper. "_**Her safety-**_" another punch. "_**Her peace-**_" again the ground shattered beneath them. "_**Her LIFE?!**_" they began falling as the last punch broke through whatever space they were in and they landed between the realms, at the same spot Vergil arrived at before.

His breathing was heavy as he got up and took a few steps back, but the glare was still there. He got Genzo out, granted, forcefully. And maybe now that he knew what he knew he would prefer to go back in time and stop himself from saving the bastard. But now there was no going back and at least Nami would be happy to know the human was alive.

Cowards always found a way out. They always found a way to survive and save their own skin if such a way existed.

_**~X~**_

Marines received a report of Arlong Pirates not too long ago, a few days at most, and now, knowing who Arlong was they were sending one of the strongest marine captains stationed at East Blue. Second only to captains Smoker, in Loguetown, and Enji, whose troops were stationed in another part of the sea to deal with pirates out in the open waters.

But it was all for nothing if they were caught off guard even before they got into firing range of the Arlong Park.

A massive water tornado engulfed the ship sending it up towards the sky. The marines screamed, crying out in confusion and panic as the needles made of blood appeared all around them. Some ducked underneath as the blood needles shot towards them, but the ones that didn't now had multiple wounds, some were open, some mere scratches, but still wounds.

"_**Water is the force of life! Life that you're about to give to me!**_" the demonic voice cackled, sending chills down their spines. Where would he strike from? How would he strike? A torpedo of water emerged from below, broke through the ship and then they saw him.

A monstrosity, a devil that was easily three meters tall stood in front of them. His yellow eyes shone with deadly desire to end their lives and his arms were encased in ice and his upper body was covered by small white stones stuck to deep blue skin. His knees were bent and he had clawed feet with one claw coming from each heel and pointing upwards. His teeth were bared, for he had no lips to cover them with. On top of his head, he had ice spikes, roughly half a foot long going upwards.

He opened his mouth and the jaw fell down, opening so wide it looked like it was dislocated. He didn't have a tongue. Vapor came from his mouth and immediately transformed into water. Frozen either in fear, or stuck by the water on the deck that held them, it didn't matter, they couldn't move. Not even as the jaw tore through one of the marines and the monster seemed to take all the blood. They were powerless and they were his to kill.

_**~X~**_

Vergil looked around, not entirely sure how to proceed. "Zduhach!" he called out.

"_**I'm here cambion, don't waste your breath**_," it appeared out of nowhere and Genzo stumbled back. "_**You actually went and forcibly got the human out, how halfling-like,**_" it chuckled as it approached the two.

Vergil narrowed his eyes. "How do we leave?"

Zduhach stopped and created a single white passage. "_**Here you go, human, go and wake up. I have some business with cambion.**_"

Genzo was pretty much frozen, there was only so much a person could take before it became too much and this day was bringing him to his breaking point.

Vergil sighed, grabbed the man, and tossed him through the passage. "What do you want?" he asked ignoring the surprised yelp that came from Genzo.

"_**You'll see.**_"

Before Vergil could even try to react ground underneath him opened up and he fell into the mass of red energy.

_**~X~**_

Luffy sat cross-legged on the bed right next to Vergil, though it was a crammed. Still, his first mate never intentionally fell into mystery sleep. So staying as close to him was the only reasonable thing to do, right?

"Luffy," Usopp tried to pull his hand back. "Quit poking him! What happens when he wakes up?"

He sounded a bit scared. Luffy didn't get why so he tilted his head to the side. "It's Vergil, he'll just wake up," that's how it always was. Whenever he woke Vergil up it ended up being simply Vergil waking up. No sudden movement or anything. Well, at times he rubbed his eyes, but that didn't happen often.

"But people usually jump when you wake them up like that! What if he electrocutes us all?!"

"Vergil doesn't do that," Luffy simply pointed out, still confused as to why his Nakama was making a big deal out of poking Vergil's shoulder.

Zoro for some reason slapped his forehead. "Usopp, just give up. Besides, if someone knows how Vergil will react, it's Luffy."

Luffy laughed at that. "Right!"

A panicking yell got Luffy's attention as he and the rest of his crew turned to see the old man sitting up abruptly. "Old man woke up," he voiced his thoughts.

"We can see that," Sanji told him.

Nami's sister hugged the old man, both of them were shaking a bit. "Gen-san," she muttered. "Thank goodness you're alive."

"More like thank devil," Zoro chimed in making Luffy look at Vergil.

He still wasn't waking up so Luffy poked him again, this time though, he went for the side of Vergil's head. "Vergil, hey," nothing. "We got a dog," again, nothing. Luffy's face fell a bit as he watched the blank face of his first mate. "That always wakes him up."

"Why?" Sanji and Usopp asked at the same time.

"I'll thank the young man later," Genzo spoke up, he was looking from Nami to Nojiko's bandaged waist. He looked at the doctor and grabbed the hat that was resting next to his bed. "Let's go, we have something to do."

Nojiko and the doctor nodded at that.

Luffy's jaw dropped when he noticed what was on the old man's hat. "A pinwheel! Why do you have a pinwheel on your head?!" he was utterly shocked. Amazed as well.

The old guy looked at him. "There are more important things right now!" he snapped and marched out of the hospital.

"Sorry about that, we're slightly tense after everything that happened," Nami's sister apologized.

Luffy just grinned. "It's fine, I just thought of a cool move."

She looked confused but she still motioned towards Vergil. "He'll be fine, right?"

Luffy nodded confidently. "Yep!"

_**~X~**_

Vergil shook his head as he got up to one knee. "What now you stupid soul harvesting bastard?" he grumbled as he carefully massaged his neck, there was strange pressure on it and he could only explain it with one thing.

Perun.

Vergil looked around, he recognized the place, it was the exact same place he came to before he was creating Perun. A small room, completely shrouded in darkness, no, not darkness, just black mass he couldn't see through. Last time he was there it was lit by torches in each of the corners, though, even back then one of them never lit up.

"At least make it more interesting next time," he complained and took a few steps forward, his arm outstretched so he could feel what was in front of him. His palm touched the wall and he stopped. "I," he hesitated for a moment. "I challenge the law of soul and death, by opening the path to forbidden," the words had an instantaneous effect as the wall opened and he began walking.

He walked and walked, quickly losing touch with time. He tried to count, but he quickly lost his focus, there was no sense of anything here and he should have known it. And he did, but it didn't matter. Eventually, he reached broken stairs and a shashka hovering in the air on the other side.

Perun.

And behind it was the shadow of a chained beast.

Black Thunder, Leonidas Vergil.

"I no longer deserve it," he turned around, turning his back on his own soul.

_**~X~**_

Zoro looked outside the window, the situation was far from good as far as he could tell. The villagers were going back to their houses and leaving again with whatever tool they could use in a fight. They were going to rebel and probably die if no one stopped them.

"We should stop them," Love Cook for once stated Zoro's opinion as well, but Zoro would rather not agree with him directly.

"Yeah, they'll die if we just let them go," Usopp agreed.

"We'll stop them, I mean you guys are watching over Vergil-aniki and Nami-aneki," Johnny suddenly spoke up, the two of them were awfully quiet up until now.

"Right, we don't have anything else to do," Yosaku added.

Zoro nodded, not really thinking much about it. "We'll leave it to you then."

"We won't let you down," they both promised.

A few minutes later Nami finally opened her eyes.

"Nami-san! Don't push yourself," the cook went and helped her sit up. "Do you need anything?"

She shook her head "No. Where's Vergil?"

Zoro couldn't help but smirk at that. If it was any other situation he'd tease her, but she had no idea how serious the situation got and Vergil still wasn't waking up.

"He is mystery sleeping," of course the brilliant explanation came from their endearingly stupid captain…

Nami raised an eyebrow at that and then noticed Vergil, unconscious, and still getting poked by Luffy. "Luffy… just stop poking him, it's not working," she pretty much ordered.

The look on Luffy's face was fairly hilarious as he childishly pouted, he looked like his playtime was interrupted by chores. "But-"

"Stop it," Nami's firm tone left no space for argument.

Nami looked around the room, realizing Genzo was no longer there. Her eyes widened, she probably thought he was dead.

"He's fine. Vergil helped him somehow. That's why he's unconscious right now," Zoro explained and allowed a small smile as Nami let out a sigh of relief and stood up.

She went over to their first mate and gently touched the back of his hand. The hand that was still resting above his heart.

"No poking," Luffy reminded her sternly.

Nami's face went slightly red at being criticized by the most childish pirate captain she'd likely ever meet and she slapped her forehead. "Moving on," she grumbled, trying her best to ignore what Luffy just said. "Where is everyone? Villagers are usually walking around at this time of the day."

Usopp gulped. "Nami, you might want to sit down."

The worry returned back to her expression. "What happened?" her voice was barely louder than a whisper and as vulnerable as that of a lost child.

"Marines tried to take your money. Nojiko is sure Arlong sent them," Usopp's words caused Nami to nearly lose her balance. If Luffy didn't catch her and sat her down next to Vergil she probably would have fallen.

"They shot Nojiko-chan, but it's not lethal, she'll recover. As for villagers," Sanji halted not sure how to tell her the worst news.

Nami reached out and grabbed the first thing next to her for any semblance of support. She squeezed Luffy's hand so hard Zoro thought she would have actually hurt anyone that wasn't rubber.

"Villagers are preparing to rebel," Zoro took it upon himself to tell her the final horrible truth, to hammer in just how bad the situation got.

Hearing that Nami did the only thing she could possibly try to do. She ran out intending to stop the people she cared about from going to their deaths.

Luffy was surprisingly the first to follow after Nami. "Vergil will be fine on his own," he explained and it was enough for everyone to follow after their captain.

_**~Thanatos~**_

The glass container shook, the weapon, Vergil's Devil Arm, Perun was engulfed in red energy and the liquid it was in began boiling. The alarm went off, alerting the guards immediately.

_**~The Human World~**_

Cambion's eyes opened, flashing from red to yellow before finally settling on the eye color that was always meant to be, the eye color he was born with. Leonidas Vergil's eyes were red and he was awake.

_**~X~**_

The moment she got to the main road Nami's last hopes of Zoro being wrong were obliterated. Gen-san and Nojiko were indeed preparing the villagers for a rebellion.

"Eight years ago we said we'd never throw out lives away!" Gen-san's voice boomed and she recognized the sabre at the end of the group. "That no matter how bad their abuse against us became, as long as Nami was fine, we were going to continue out fight of endurance. But this is how they answer back! By nearly killing her and almost stealing her money!" they all knew, they all knew about the deal. "Now that there's no way for this village to be freed, we have no goal to survive for! Furthermore! We will not forgive them for preying on Nami's kindness! Are there any objections?!"

"No way! Let's go!"

"We're already prepared to fight!"

"We're not gonna take it anymore!"

"YEAH!"

The villagers were united with only one goal in mind and she couldn't let it happen. She couldn't let them go.

"Wait, everyone!" she cried out as she slowed down to a walk. Her body was protesting with every move she made but she needed to put a smile on her face. Thus, she did, she smiled as well as she could.

"Nami!" Villagers stepped aside to let Nojiko and Gen-san pass.

Nami looked at Nojiko, at the bullet wound on the side of her waist. It would be nothing compared to what Arlong and his crew would do. "Just wait… just wait a little longer! I'm nearly there, I'll get the money. It'll be easy," she needed to reassure them. "I have lots of experience! Just one more trip! You don't have to worry! And I'll find a way to keep the money safe! Compared to that time I'm fine! I'm fine so-" she was cut off by Gen-san pulling her into a one-armed hug. She gasped, wanting nothing more than to hug him as well. To just relax there with the man that was like a father to her. To feel safe.

"That's enough. We know what futility is like," his words tore her heart apart, the broken tone, the tear that slid down his cheek. She had never seen him cry before… "You fought well, for our sake. It must have been more painful for you to join that crew, more painful than it is to get hurt like that," but there was conviction in his tone, conviction that made her realize, though she'd never admit it to herself, that there was nothing that could stop him and the villagers. "You fought well."

"Gen-san…" those three words he spoke held the sense of finality to them. This was the end. And she was once again powerless to do anything about it. For the first time in eight years, she cried in front of him, in front of the villagers.

"Now, leave this village," as if letting them go and die wasn't enough, he now demanded that she abandons them, disregards everything that happened.

"Gen-san!" she wanted to protest but she couldn't find the words to say, she couldn't speak, she could just look at him, wide-eyes.

"Do it, Nami!" even Nojiko was urging her to just leave.

"I can't!" she argued turning to her sister.

"Na-chan."

"Nami."

"You've got brains and you've got a dream," Nojiko explained. "And those pirate are good people, leave with them while you still can."

"Nojiko! Everyone! I won't let you!" desperate to stop them she took out the knife and pointed it towards them, towards Genzo. "Stop it, everyone! I don't want to see anyone get hurt anymore! You're going to die!" she cried out.

"We know," Gen-san grabbed her knife and squeezed the blade.

Nami's eyes widened as she watched blood drip down the blade. Gen-san's blood.

"It's useless. We've already decided in our hearts!" Nako told her.

There was no way to stop the tears, Nami just silently cried there in front of them.

"Out of the way, Nami! You can't stop us!"

She flinches at that.

"Let's go, everyone! Even if we can't win, we'll show them our pride!"

"YEAH!"

The villagers ran towards Arlong Park going further and further away from Nami. The knife fell from her hand and she dropped down to her knees. All she could do was stare wide-eyed at the sky. Everything she cared about was just taken away from her. Her mother, her freedom, her dream, her village, her family.

Her hope.

All taken away by him. And all she could hear was his laughter.

Arlong.

Rage, no absolute wrath that left no place for reason took over. She gritted her teeth and slowly raised her right hand. Her eyes went to Arlong's mark, permanently tattooed on her skin. She wanted to take it off, as much as she could, once she was free. Now it was clear she'd take it to grave it with her.

No.

That was the last thing she'd allow. This would not remain on her body. Not even a moment longer! She clamped onto the tattoo, not caring one bit if she tore off her entire arm. As long as it was gone every price was worthless.

_'Arlong!'_

Without a moment of hesitation, she grabbed the knife and stabbed it straight into her arm. "ARLONG!" she screamed his name, letting the hatred, the pain, all the pent up emotions out. "ARLONG! ARLONG!" she kept stabbing as if she was stabbing the cursed fishman and not her own body. "ARLONG! ARLONG!" again and again, her blood splattered, dripped down her arm. "ARLONG!" she didn't care, if she lost her entire arm and it freed her from the monstrous tattoo on her shoulder all the better! "Ar-" her voice got stuck in her throat as she felt a hand firmly stopping her own before she could stab again.

She still tried to stab again, to pull the blade closer, but whoever was holding her hand was far stronger than her.

"Luffy…"

He just looked at her, his face blank and she finally dropped the knife.

"What do you want? You don't know anything. You don't know what's been happening for the past eight years on this island," she didn't get it, why would he even stay on the island?

He didn't budge, he didn't argue with what she just said. "Yeah. I don't."

His words angered her, why was he still making things more difficult for her. It was over, everyone she cared about was on their way to death. "This is none of your business! I told you to get off this island, didn't I?!"

"Yeah. You told me," he just replied, like it wasn't serious, his tone unreadable, but just relaxed.

"Go away!" she threw dust at him. "You! Go away! Go away! Go away! Go away! Go away!" no matter how much dust she threw at him he wasn't moving. "Go away! Go away! GO AWAY!" she cried out feeling as if nothing could take her pain away. "Go away…"

He just looked at her, not doing or saying anything.

And Nami cried, she just cried there no matter how hard she tried to stop. She put her hand over her mouth to stifle the sobs but it didn't help.

"Luffy," finally, finally, she turned back to look at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Help me."

If she wasn't as emotionally exhausted as she was she would have feared his response, fearing that after all she said and did he'd turn his back on her. He was still there so the doubts were completely unreasonable. But she thought Arlong wouldn't betray her, yet he did.

He stood still for what felt like an eternity to her before taking hold of his straw hat and placing it on her head. All Nami could do was just look at him as he walked by her.

"DAMN RIGHT!" he roared and at that moment it felt like all her doubts were vanquished. It looked like things would be fine, like he'd actually win against Arlong

She touched his precious hat, his treasure, realizing the meaning of it. "Luffy…" the message was clear, he'll protect her, her villagers, everything she treasured and he trusted her with his own treasure. A complete sign of trust… More importantly, he gave her a reason why, it was all only for her.

"We're going," Luffy ordered acting more like a captain then he ever did.

"Right!" and just like one, Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji responded to their captain.

The three of them walked by Nami as well and she felt hope once again. Good times will come, there will be a reason to smile.

_**~X~**_

Vergil stepped outside, he stretched his arms up and took in a deep breath. Fresh air was definitely better than anything inside the hospital. For some strange reason, he also felt like he was stabbed, or poked, or something, with a blunt object. It was probably his imagination.

But the presence of powered up Krrim approaching rapidly definitely wasn't imagination.

Narrowing his eyes, he began zapping to meet the devil head-on. It didn't take him long to get to the main road and see Nami on her knees, Luffy and the rest heading in the direction of Arlong Park and soon enough Krrim appeared as well. Using **Devil Trigger**.

"RUN!" Nami cried out and while Usopp looked like he was about to run for his life at the sight of transformed devil heading right at Luffy engulfed in a stream of water the others didn't show a sign of fear. Zoro and Sanji were ready to counterattack but Luffy just kept walking.

Vergil couldn't help but smirk as lightning engulfed him and he zapped past his nakama, it was as if Luffy somehow knew things would be fine.

The smirk vanished as he blocked a punch with his forearm and a small shockwave created a cloud of dust around them.

"_**Black Thunder!**_" Krrim roared when he realized Vergil blocked him.

Darkness merged with lightning and he pulled his left fist back. "**Hazard** **Upper Flash**!" he punched Krrim straight into the jaw, black lightning erupting from his fist and causing additional damage. The devil skidded across the road but didn't fall.

"Vergil!" he heard Nami gasping behind him.

"Need any help?" Zoro offered while Krrim steading his footing.

"Go ahead," Vergil said, not for a moment taking his eyes off of Krrim, his lightning turned to normal. "I've got this."

Luffy looked him in the eyes and Vergil met his eyes. "Let's go," the order was definitive, whatever happened here, Vergil would take care of it.

"_**Where do you think you're going, humans?**_" Krrim's attention turned back at anyone but Vergil.

"**Storm Hazard,"** Vergil once again merged lightning and darkness, but this time the black sparks remained. "You're not living for much longer; at least put up a fight," black lightning clashed with a stream of water as two devils completely focused on each other.

_**~X~**_

Genzo led the villagers to the gates of Arlong Park but there was already someone there, two men, beaten and bloody, probably done by Arlong.

"Hey! Are you guys okay? Were you beaten up by Arlong?"

"Out of the way. We've come to see the fishmen," Genzo ordered, they didn't have time for this and he just wanted to get this over with.

The tattooed male spoke up first. "After finding out the truth about Nami-aneki, there was only one thing left to do, beat Arlong. With that in mind, we came here."

"But we lost by a hair-thin," the other one, wearing a green coat, said.

Somehow Genzo found that part hard to believe.

"No offense, but we ain't moving for you guys. You have no chance of winning."

"What?" Genzo asked, there was no reason for them to interfere.

"We're waiting for those guys to come."

Genzo knew who they were talking about. The kids that were on the same crew as that devil.

"Bet your life on it. Those guys will definitely come!"

The two stood up. "There!"

Genzo, along with the rest of the village turned around to see four approaching figures, the only one that was armed was a green-haired bandaged male with a single katana.

"Nami's friends," Nojiko whispered.

"If those guys can't stand up to them, then there's no hope, not only for this island. But for the whole of East Blue," the words were chilling, but true, if Arlong wasn't stopped, there wasn't much anyone could do.

"Remember their faces, they have come to change the future," the one with the tattoo hammered in just how much faith they had in this small approaching crew.

The four of them didn't look threatening at all, but they were all serious, calm, ready to fight, much more than any of the villagers. Even if they didn't look like it Genzo felt it, they were strong.

"Move," a black-haired boy that looked like he was the youngest of them all said with authority that was shocking to Genzo.

What could a human that had a devil on his crew do? What would be the requirement to make someone like that devil work with humans? Genzo didn't know, but when the raven-haired boy broke through the large gate with one punch he felt like he was just a bit closer to the answer.

"Which one's Arlong?" there was no fear, no hesitation. Just pure confidence and resolve to fight the fishman that terrorized them for eight years.

_**~X~**_

Vergil glanced back, Nami was still on her knees, crying as she just looked at him. As it was she was nothing but a target and Krrim wasn't the same devil he easily knocked down with a single punch. If it took **Hazard Storm** powered punch to move him then he needed to get the fight away from Nami quickly.

Electricity engulfed his forearm and he did a quick uppercut. "**Hazard Surge**," an arc of black electricity went straight at Krrim. Krrim jumped to the side and Vergil zapped after him. As Krrim landed his feet back on the ground Vergil swept him off his feet and began slamming electricity powered-up punches straight into his chest.

Krrim managed to cross his arms to block the direct damage, it did little to stop electricity from shocking him.

Vergil planted his knee into Krrim's guts and punched his jaw sending him further into the air. "**Hazard Staccato,**" lightning charged at Krrim only to be blocked by a stream of water.

Krrim landed on his feet and formed a large water whip extending from his palm. He swept his arm in an arc, forcing Vergil to jump up.

"_**Water**_-" the water from the whip along with additional water began forming around his mouth. "_**Blast**_!"

"That's the most unimaginative name I've heard in a long time," Vergil met it head-on with an electrified fist. "**Hazard** **Grounding**," the attack definitely had pressure to it but in the end, the only result they both got was a huge amount of vapor forming all around Vergil. As he descended from the air Vergil punched three times, sending a bolt of black lightning every time he did.

Krrim dodged by jumping back and shooting at Vergil with red needles.

Vergil caught one and then Zapped to the ground. '_Blood_,' he realized and broke the needle before charging at Krrim and tackling him to the ground. He stood above the water using devil and pulled his fist back.

Krrim grunted as the first punch collided with his guts and then the next one with the side of his jaw. He managed to raise his hand and block the third one before it could hit his exposed neck. He grabbed Vergil's wrist and flung him to the side. Krrim panted as he got back up, those few attacks definitely had an effect on him. The devil looked around and then looked at Vergil. "_**I get it now. Fine, I can play by those rules,**_" he began backing away, back to where he came from.

Vergil knew where this was going, but he still lunged forward intent on pushing Krrim further away. If he managed to kill the bastard, all the better.

_**~X~**_

Luffy panted, not from exhaustion, but from anger. Tossing a giant animal was nothing new to him. No, he just wanted to beat the crap out of one man, or fishman. "I didn't come here to fight these guys! The one I want to take down," he raised his finger and then pointed it at Arlong. "IS YOU!"

"That's just perfect," Arlong smirked. "I was just thinking about how I'd like to kill you now too."

"That was dangerous, you idiot!" Sanji yelled at him and lightly nudged Luffy in the head with his foot.

"Did you want to kill us too?!" Usopp screamed.

"Huh?" Luffy looked down and realized his new technique left him stuck in the concrete. He tilted his head and tried to pull his feet out, but they were stuck. Strange, he could pull them out from the ground if he got only this deep. "Oh well," he raised his fist to shoulder level and aimed for the ground.

"What are you doing NOW?!" Usopp shrieked.

"I'm stuck," Luffy explained and punched the ground, his punch lost some of its strength since he wasn't exactly in a preferable position, but the concrete still cracked a bit. "One more!" he punched again and set himself free. One thing he didn't count for was losing balance and heading straight towards the water.

He waved his arms around and stumbled a bit but the only reason he didn't take a dip in the ocean was that Zoro grabbed the back of his vest and pulled him back. "Seriously, one of us could have helped you out."

Sanji facepalmed. "Looks like I ended up with a complete moron for my captain. First, he gets stuck on his own and then he nearly falls into the sea…" he sighed. "Well, at least it's a hundred times better than being with a low-life bunch that would hurt a lady," he couldn't help but grin a bit at that.

"But still," Usopp poked the side of Luffy's head. "That was quick thinking, you sure you're Luffy?"

Luffy nodded, of course, he was Luffy. "Who else would I be? Vergil had me do it a few times," he remembered the first time Vergil punched him into the ground up to his waist.

_**~X~**_

_It was two weeks after he met Vergil and the devil still didn't accept to be on his crew. They did spar every single day though. But today, Vergil pretty much slammed him into the ground blasted a hole and stuck him there._

_"Hmm? I can't get out," Luffy realized while Vergil just jumped up and landed on a branch._

_The white-haired male sat down and leaned against the trunk. "Get out of there, you're a good fighter but you need to use your head more," he pointed out. "Neither of us is leaving until you are out of the ground."_

_**~X~**_

It was simple really, just punch until it cracks and while it wasn't the only solution Vergil was fine with it back then.

_**~X~**_

Lightning and darkness separated and Vergil leaned forward a bit. He could hear his heart drumming against his chest but he couldn't let it show on his face.

"_**You are a fool, forcing me out of the village and right next to the water. Are you really Black Thunder?**_" Krrim taunted, he was hurt, he was bleeding but he now had an advantage.

Vergil narrowed his eyes, there was no choice. Nami was behind him, the village was on the sides, all he could do was force Krrim forward, it just so happened that forward meant towards the sea. And **Storm Hazard** took a toll on him while Krrim was still in his **Devil Trigger **form. Still, he stood tall and raised his fist, electricity surged around it, simple, blue electricity. "Bring it."

_**~X~**_

Nami sat on the chair in front of her house, she just finished bandaging her arm. She felt pain, a lot of it now that adrenaline was pretty much gone. '_Enough crying, I need to go! Everyone is fighting!_' she grabbed her staff and forced herself to run again. The sooner she got to Arlong Park the better. She needed to be there, no matter what happened.

* * *

_**Well, all that's left is a fight, or most of it anyway, so, one more chapter to go, maybe two but I'll try to get it done in one. I really hope you're enjoying reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I was thinking about adding more of Nami's flashback, but as I began thinking more about it, I figured this was the moment that would haunt Genzo until he died.**_

_**And yes, yes I had to use Devil Trigger, originally it was Demon Release, but that song is so DAMN COOL! **_

_**V: Don't you dare sing it! And you forgot to say that in the last chapter!**_

_**One thing I'd really like to hear your opinion on is parts of fights being omitted, like Luffy throwing Mohmoo in this chapter. You've already seen those fights so how do you feel about me skipping, for example, most of Usopp running away? So showing parts of the fight that I feel are important and of course the parts I change and not the entirety of the fights. I'd really like to hear what you think about that.**_

* * *

_**Answers on reviews:**_

_**AtashiWa – Thank you, it means a lot. Vergil being more human, and yes, I agree with how ironic that sounds, and being more relatable is something I'm very happy to read in a review. I think this chapter brought more of both his relationship with Luffy and with Nami as well, but I guess it'll be up to readers to decide on that. Overall, thank you, I enjoyed reading a bit longer review for a change.**_

_**Guest – Trust me, that's about as far from the flame as it can get. You just stated something you felt was a mistake on my part. **_

_ **V: It's a bit funny since Koby actually appears in that very chapter.**_

_ **Regardless of that, Koby isn't removed from the story. He is with Enji and he is in marines. One thing that I really, really don't get is Koby hype, I get it, he was there from the first episode, before even Zoro but so far he got a handful of appearances in over 950 chapters and his role in the war, despite what Shanks said, was minimal. And, the thing is, it can still happen, just because he didn't meet Luffy it doesn't mean he can't have that moment.**_

_ **V: In fact with what Author is planning he'll get more scenes and development.**_

_**Guest – Thank you.**_

_**C.S. Skywalker – First things first, thanks for that review, it was fun to read.**_

_ **V: She won't rewrite again, she just likes teasing me with that.**_

_ **I completely understand the worry as far as my rewrite habit goes. First time I spent over two years writing the story, then I had a long break, over a year, came back to second attempt and spent I think nearly a year dragging myself to the first chapter of Arlong Park, so yeah, getting here in a month is really good.**_

_ **V: Dal is right, Krrim was originally named Krim. Author changed two names because of same reason. Veles, place in demon world was changed to Volos because Veles, as an actual place, already exists. Now she can't know every place and if it happens again it's a coincidence. But Krim, is actually the way you'd spell Crimea in her language. It originally slipped her mind, somehow, and it was too late to change it first time around and she didn't bother to change it the second time, but this time she did.**_

_ **Boy this is a long reply, but d-**_

_ **V: Response to last part of review not found. **_

_**Sagicknight – Oh he's definitely digging his grave. Though he might not get to use it.**_

_ **V: I did promise to obliterate him.**_


	15. You are my nakama

_**Chapter 15 – To protect their Nakama**_

* * *

The speed of waves hitting the shore gradually increased as two devils stood a couple of feet away from one another. Neither moved, they waited for the other to make a move. The first to get advantage would likely be the winner. It was a battle between two devils, it wasn't going to last for hours.

"If you want to waste all your time in that form, go ahead. I'm not in hurry," Vergil spoke up, though he was still beckoning Krrim to attack, taunting him.

Krrim narrowed his eyes, he knew he wasn't staying in **Devil Trigger** forever, hell, he probably had less than an hour left. And that was if he didn't exert himself. He raised his healthy hand and swept it in an arc, sending waves from the sea straight at Vergil.

Vergil remained completely still, ignoring the harmless, slightly annoying, splash of water. His eyes were focused on Krrim even as he noticed a shadow above him. A torrent of water hit him from above, forcing his knees to nearly buckle under the pressure. Krrim, seeing the opening, went for a straightforward attack. He formed a blade of blood coming from the knuckles of his right hand.

As the blade approached Vergil's chest he just ducked underneath it, leaned on his left palm, and kicked Krrim in the guts. He held his breath as the water kept pouring on top of him but lack of air for a few moments was never going to be much of a problem. He shifted a bit to the left and kicked Krrim from the side all the while powering his attacks up with lightning. As much as it annoyed him, the water did make his lightning stronger.

Krrim groaned, taking a few steps back. He created two balls of water and threw them towards Vergil.

A burst of lightning was enough to break them apart and Vergil finally jumped out of the torrent's way. "You're a hundred years too early to challenge me," he pointed out and raised his hands a bit. Lightning gathered and he retaliated immediately.

_**~X~**_

Luffy crossed his arms and blocked the incoming punch. It forced him back and he realized Zoro had fallen. "Zoro!" he cried out, only to be forced into ducking under another punch. Arlong wasn't letting him breathe even for a moment. But he was more focused on his crew, thus he saw a fishman going after Sanji from behind. "Sanji! Watch out!" he quickly warned before jumping over Arlong's head.

Sanji reacted just in time to avoid the attack and Luffy focused his attention back on Arlong. He skidded to the side, avoiding yet another punch in the nick of time. "**Gomu Gomu no Whip**!" he kicked Arlong in the abdomen, making the fishman halt his assault for a moment. "And **Pistol**!" he continued with a punch to the side of the face thus knocking the fishman off his feet. "**Gatling**!" he finished his combo with a quick series of punches forcing Arlong through the wall and making it collapse on top of him along the way.

"Did you think that would work?" Arlong slowly pulled his body out of the rubble, clearly not even slightly affected by Luffy's assault.

"It didn't work at all!" Johnny and Yosaku cried out.

Luffy on the other hand just cracked his knuckles. "Nope, just warming up," he glanced to the side and grinned slightly. Zoro was getting up.

_**~X~**_

How pitiful, he couldn't even stay conscious during an important battle. All that boasting, all those promises, and here he was, lying on the ground barely clinging to life. He needed to wake up. He needed to help his Nakama. He needed to prove to himself and Luffy that he was worthy of being on Pirate King's crew! _'Get up!'_

He could never accept becoming the greatest swordsman in the world if he lost here!

"Six-swords style, huh? You're full of crap!" he barely got back to his feet, panting heavily and blacking out for a few short moments every now and then, too often for his liking. But he got up.

"Roronoa Zoro!"

"Let me just make one thing very clear, Octopus. There is someone that I must meet again," he took a deep breath, ignoring the burning pain. "And until that day," another deep breath and a glare directed straight at Hachi showing only one thing, his resolve. He would not fall again during this battle. "Not even Death itself can take my life away!"

"What's with you, Roronoa Zoro? Why do you keep pushing yourself to go on? I don't think you can defeat me and my six swords as you are. I think anyone in the world would say the same," Hachi just kept talking.

"Shut up, it's none of your business," even tying his bandana took extra effort. For the first time in nearly a decade, he found it difficult to breathe with katana in his mouth, but he needed to power through this. He needed swords and he knew exactly where to get them. "I'll show you, my **Three Sword Style**!"

"Nyu?"

"Yosaku, Johnny! Lend me your swords!" he exclaimed. 'Shit… I'm losing it. How many more minutes can I hang on?'

He heard the sound of swords spinning and time seemed to slow down just for him.

"Hah! Now you'll see the barrier that two-handed humans can't surpass!" Hachi's words, no, every sound became quieter and quieted.

But he grabbed the swords and world cleared around him again, returned to normal speed and he deflected each sword. "**Santoryu**-" he moved past Hachi, slicing him. "**Toro Nagashi**!"

"NYU!" he finally landed a hit on his enemy.

_**~X~**_

He actually did it, he actually tricked the fishman into thinking he was dead. Good thing he had **Ketchup Star** at the ready. Now all he needed was to wait and it would all be over. _'I know Nami can't change things alone and I really want to help her, but I'll gladly pass on dying!'_ he knew it was a bit cowardly, but that was natural. Although, he really couldn't go back with only ketchup stains. 'I should try to look like I made more of an effort,' he sat up. _'I know, maybe if I get myself dirty,'_ he began rubbing dirt on his arms.

Yeah, that should make them understand. "I could say, 'Oh! So sorry! I got lost!' or something," it didn't sound too bad, but he could do better than that. "Maybe I should go like, 'Oh, that jerk? He got away!' Nah, that'll never fly, will it?" of course it wouldn't he needed something better. "Hey, don't cry, Nami, we did our best!" for some reason he nearly choked on his own words.

Luffy put his faith in him, said that he had more composure than Kuro. How could he just walk over that and act like he ever tried to fight?

And Vergil, he stayed to face that monster on his own, he chose to fight on his own again to ensure they wouldn't get hurt by demons. Yet here he was, giving up already.

Zoro declared he'd chose death over loss!

Sanji would fight anyone to keep Nami safe, he was ready to die to keep that old cook safe!

And Nami… she spent almost half her life fighting alone and still only asked for help when there was no other option left!

Tears formed in his eyes and he quickly wiped them away. He couldn't cry now. What would Kaya, Piiman, Ninjin, and Tamanegi think about him now? '_You ain't seen nothing yet!_'

If he gave up like this he wouldn't have the right to sail with his Nakama! He wouldn't have the right to laugh with them! So he stood up and turned around. "Wait right there, you fish freak!"

_**~X~**_

Zoro nearly fell again. The fever was getting worse; his body was screaming for him to fall, to just rest. To be ordinary.

_'A wound that'd make an ordinary man unconscious… I won't lose to it,_' he couldn't let that happen. He promised he'd never lose again and he was not about to break that promise barely a day later.

_'A would that would kill an ordinary person… I won't lose to it!' _he could barely hear or see anything, in the corner of his mind he was aware of Hachi being about to attack him.

_'To face one who is extraordinary, Hawk Eyes… I can't allow myself to be ordinary!' _despite an enemy approaching him all he could think of was Mihaws's face. He had to get stronger, more powerful if he ever wanted to face him again. And he would never lose again.

He began spinning his blades around. "**Tatsumaki**!" the speed of his attack created a small tornado and Hachi was flung into the air, his swords broken and his body cut and bleeding. He wasn't getting up from that and Zoro knew it.

"Octopus jerk… now do you understand… how much heavier my swords are? You satisfied?" it was getting even harder to stay conscious, he needed to stay awake, if he passed out now he'd be a liability that needs protecting. He wouldn't put it past these fishmen to attack someone else just to get the upper hand once things get rough for them.

_**~X~**_

"**Gomu Gomu no Bazooka**!" Luffy hit Arlong directly in the chest.

The shark fishman coughed up blood but otherwise kept his footing. "You damn human!" he cupped some water from the sea and tossed it at Luffy.

Luffy's eyes widened when he felt the impact of the water, it took him by surprise and forced him to take a step back. Just what Arlong needed to attack. He punched Luffy's crossed forearms away intending to leave Luffy defenseless. He closed in but Luffy jumped back, increasing the distance if only by a little bit.

"**Gomu Gomu no Gatling**!" Luffy retaliated as quickly as he could but Arlong stepped aside and tried to bite his again. Luffy managed to move out of the way but the nose scratched his side. Bloodstained his vest but it wasn't anything he couldn't brush off. He quickly spun around intent on punching Arlong. "Eat this!" Luffy slammed Arlong's jaw from below, breaking the teeth and pushing the fishman away once more.

_**~X~**_

Sanji jumped to the side, dodging yet another **Hundred Tile True Punch**. He briefly glanced back to the water and the way surface split due to the air pressure. No matter what he needed to keep dodging that, but he was constantly being forced to the edge, a single slip and he'd lose his footing. He raised his knee to block a normal punch, this much he could easily brush off.

"Where's that talk about chivalry now?" shitty fish actually dared to taunt him. "It's nothing but naïve empty words, after all."

He knew he should have gotten frustrated but these bastards were crossing every line, taunting his beliefs and more importantly hurting a lady. "Since when does a fish-" he aimed his kick at the fishman's head only to get blocked. "Talk back to a cook?!" he put more power behind his kick and pushed the fishman back.

"Don't act so high and mighty, human! **Hundred Tile True Punch**!"

He saw it coming, he was ready to dodge, but the moment he stepped back he lost his footing to the hole Luffy made in concrete. '_Shit!_' he took the punch dead on, straight to the chest. He flew across Arlong Park and barely managed to steady himself before hitting the wall. At least he had a bit of time to mentally prepare himself before it hit him and the fishman was also getting tired from all the punching.

"Once your smooth talk of chivalry gets past your mouth, let alone Nami, you can't protect a single soul!" the fishman declared.

Sanji glared, wanting nothing more than to kick the shit out of this bastard. And he moved in to do it. "**Collier**!" he kicked Kuroobi on the neck sending him straight into the ground. "You said my chivalry was naïve, huh?!" he demanded and slammed his foot down on Kuroobi's right shoulder. "**Épaule**! That I can't protect anyone, huh?!" He proceeded to kick him again. "**Côtelette**!" this time he aimed for the back. "**Selle**!" again to the back, only slightly lower. "**Poitrine**!" another to the chest and to kick him away- "Gigot!" straight to the legs. Before Kuroobi could even try to get up he went to his side and jumped forward with his leg aimed at the fishman. "**Mouton Shot**!"

Kuroobi went straight through the building, another one of the fishman was down. "Guess you don't need any dessert."

_**~X~**_

Usopp knew he needed to react quickly, this wasn't a game he played as a child. This was not his home and he did not choose to be something that would bring him peace and tranquility!

All he needed was an opening, and the moment long mouthed fishman tore out the entire tree he got it and he took it. "Wine is flammable! **Sure Kill: Flame Star**!" he had no problem hitting a target when the distance was this small, he could have done it with his eyes closed if he wanted to.

Fishman immediately burst into flames and, for the first time since the fight started, began running away from Usopp. To seal the deal Usopp took out his hammer and jumped. "**Usopp Hammer**!" he slammed it right on top of fishman's head knocking him into the water.

_**~X~**_

Vergil slipped underneath Krrim's kick and swept the devil's other leg without much effort, but Krrim leaned onto his right palm and tried to kick Vergil down from above. Vergil jumped to his left and fired two balls of darkness towards Krrim.

The water devil formed a shield of water to stop darkness from hitting him and proceeded to form several large blood spikes by putting his right hand into the water.

Vergil shattered the spikes with his lightning before they could even get too close and zapped to Krrim's left. He engulfed his fist in lightning and punched the devil's cheek.

Krrim took a step back but otherwise brushed the punch off. "_**What's wrong? Is that all you can do?**_" Krrim taunted, although he was definitely glaring. "_**I imagined you'd be stronger, but you just don't have the raw power to defeat me.**_"

Vergil narrowed his eyes, sure, he was faster, more experienced, and had better control. But Krrim had the advantage of **Devil Trigger**, which in turn provided him with sturdier defense. But, as long as he remained on shore things would be fine. He steadied his footing just in time to clash his forearm against Krrim's causing another small blast to affect the air around them.

Krrim pulled back, retreating into the sea. He was inviting Vergil to come closer, taunting him just like Vergil did before.

Multiple streams of water emerged from the surface and launched straight at Vergil. Destroying them with lightning would be useless. With a near limitless supply of water, Krrim could make them all day long. Vergil wasn't so lucky with lightning.

Krrim's attacks were relentless, forcing Vergil to jump around and shift his direction abruptly in order to evade blood made needles.

"_**Got you**_," Krrim smirked as Vergil last his footing on the sand. A whip made out of water wrapped around Vergil's ankle and pulled him into the water.

Now, away from any semblance of equal fighting ground, Vergil could only stare as Krrim formed two large water drills. _'Heh, just great,'_ Vergil quickly formed _**Zone Of Protection**_ around his body and prepared to catch the drills.

Drills came at him from opposite sides and while he managed to grab them and protect the body with lightning at the same time it still left him open for an attack. Thus, Krrim quickly closed the distance and slammed his knee into Vergil's guts. The impact forced Vergil to let go of the drills and he took damage from them along with a punch to the face. **Zone of Protection** shattered, leaving him completely open to a barrage of hits.

The first two strikes were aimed at his head, trying to expose his neck, but he blocked them with his forearms. Third and fourth, hit him on the side, right where the liver was. He felt Krrim creating a new blood blade and moved back in the nick of time, escaping with only a thin cut across his abdomen.

The slight increase in the distance gave Vergil an opportunity to blast Krrim with **Staccato Lightning**, thus getting just enough time to catch his breath, even if only for a few moments.

Krrim dived below Vergil and for a few moments, both devils reverted back to waiting.

Sound of ripples was the only sign Vergil got before he saw Krrim charging at him through the water. He didn't have time for a powerful technique, not even for **Zone Of Protection**, all he could do was meet him with a punch of his own.

Two fists clashed and Vergil was pushed into the water. Before he could recover and get out of the water Krrim formed a water tornado around them and grabbed him by the neck from below. Torrents of high-pressure water hit him from all sides and with no way to even try and defend himself all Vergil could do was take them. Coughing up blood he looked at the sky, he needed to break free. But he couldn't.

_**~X~**_

Nami could see all the villagers at the gates, it didn't look like anyone died. Despite all the running her heart stopped beating a hundred miles per hour. They were still alive and from the looks of it, all of them.

She got through the villagers, which wasn't hard as they moved out of her way when they saw it was her. "Arlong!" she yelled when she got to the front focusing only on Arlong and not really responding to others calling her name. All she could see was Arlong standing.

Arlong turned to look at her and for the first time, she took in the scene around her. Arlong Park was in ruins aside from the main building and the only ones still standing were Luffy and Arlong. Zoro and Sanji were sitting with their backs leaning against the wall, resting from their battles. They were hurt, but they won. Sound of running caught a bit of her attention and she focused on it just a bit while looking right at Arlong. From the sound of it is was someone fast and light on their feet. Usopp? Probably. Shouts declaring 'I did it' left no doubt in her mind, that was definitely Usopp.

So only Vergil was left. _'Come on, give me some sign you're okay,' _she mentally pleaded.

"What brings you here, my dear cartographer?" Arlong was, despite sweet words, pissed off, more than she had ever seen him.

"I'm here to kill you," she declared and gripped her staff just a bit tighter.

"Kill me?" Arlong would usually laugh her attempts off, but this time he wasn't amused. "After all those attempts over the years, I have to admit it. This time you could even call it a try," he was slowly raising his voice. "These worthless pirates you brought here actually defeated my brethren, but that's as far as it goes! I'll kill them and then you'll be my cartographer, forever!"

A chill ran down Nami's spine, she felt sick at the mere thought of that.

"But I can give you one more choice, say you're mine and I'll let those villagers live," he smirked hammering in the fact that she was nothing more than an object to her.

Vergil promised her, all those nights ago, they'd wake her up from this nightmare. Luffy said he'd help her; he even gave her his treasured straw hat. She turned to her village. "Everyone, will you fight with me?" they wouldn't die, no matter what they'd win this.

Her village agreed as one and she turned to Arlong. "I'll never draw a single line for you ever again."

Behind Arlong she could see Luffy grinning from ear to ear.

"And soon enough you'll also have a devil to deal with," she grinned, even if it all failed Vergil would come, he'd help Luffy if needed.

"That devil? If he is still alive, you mean?" Arlong taunted and as if on cue a large water tornado erupted from the sea. "See? Krrim is about to kill him."

Nami's eyes widened and she felt weak, so weak she wasn't sure how she was still standing. It probably had something to do with Nojiko holding her. "Vergil?"

"NAMI!" Luffy's yell shook her to her core but she still didn't move her eyes away from the tornado. That's how Krrim sunk all those ships that came after Arlong eight years ago. And now Vergil was probably in the middle of it all. "Vergil will be fine! He's stronger than that devil!"

She wished she could be as optimistic as Luffy, but that… there was no way he could fight that.

Lightning erupted from the side of tornado and Nami's heart skipped the beat as another explosion, this time caused by pitch-black lightning broke the entire tornado apart.

"See? Vergil's not losing," Luffy told her calmly and turned to Arlong. "And you won't kill anyone on this island!"

_**~X~**_

Vergil's body was limp, he couldn't move, he couldn't focus, he couldn't fight back. All he could do was close his eyes and wait for Krrim to suffocate him or break his neck. Judging by the way Krrim's grip kept tightening it looked like he was going for the former option.

"_**You know, now that I think about it, Nami isn't all that disgusting for a human,**_" Krrim sneered making Vergil's fingers twitch. "_**After this is over she could spend some paying for all this trouble she caused,**_" if he could Krrim would have been smirking.

Nami suffered for eight years. Nami was nearly killed by him! Nami was in pain because of Krrim!

And Vergil… Vergil saw red.

Lightning erupted all around him, forcing Krrim to let go and breaking through the water.

"_**What the-?! I was holding your neck! How?!**_" Krrim demanded and Vergil could hear fear slowly seeping into the devil's voice.

"I'm not a devil. I am," his anger turned to pure wrath, and once again Vergil's lightning and darkness merged. Krrim crossed the line and now he had to deal with Half-awakened** Storm Hazard** using creature bent on erasing him from existence. "_**A CAMBION**_!"

_**~X~**_

Luffy was on his knee, pulling a set of Arlong's teeth out of his waist. In the long run, the idea he had to use Arlong's teeth against him wasn't the best he ever had. And he was sure it would work.

"Your jaw is too weak," Arlong tore out a set of teeth Luffy managed to force below fishman's neck. "Listen, sharks tear flesh and limbs from the body of its prey. That's what a shark's true power is! And you, if you were a devil than maybe you'd have some chance. As a human, you can't do half the things your devil can do! You couldn't even save yourself if you fell into the ocean! You can't do anything!" Arlong lunged forward, attempting to bite Luffy again.

Luffy moved to the side to evade the attack and then went in after Arlong. "And when I can't do anything, I have others to help me!" he got close to Arlong and slammed his fist right to Arlong's jaw. The force of the punch sent Arlong flying once again and broke his teeth for the second time in the same day.

"Of course I don't know how to use lightning you dumbass! I don't know a damn thing about swords either!" Luffy declared as he stood above Arlong's fallen form.

"Wha-what is he talking about?" Usopp wondered.

"I don't know how to navigate, either! I can't cook! I can't even lie!"

"Hey,"

"I know that I need others to HELP me if I want to keep on living!"

"You sure are useless. How pitiful," Arlong sat up as he said that. "And such a pathetic guy is their captain? They must really resent you. Why should they risk their lives to save someone like you?" he sounded curious, angry, but curious. "Someone they can't be proud of, why should you be their captain? What can you do?"

"I can beat you!" Luffy replied with a confident smirk, an actual smirk on his face.

Nami smiled at that.

"That goes without saying, piece of shit," Sanji said, it was clear the fight would be coming to a close soon.

"If you get yourself killed, I'll kill you," Zoro grumbled, though it was obvious he was feeling a sense of pride in his captain.

Usopp pointed at himself. "Yeah! I'll back you up!"

But Arlong, angered by Luffy's statement attacked so quickly Luffy barely had enough time to place his elbow in the way of Arlong's jaws.

"Luffy!" Nami screamed when she realized Luffy got bitten.

Luffy screamed out of pain for the first time in a long time. It didn't just hurt, it felt like he was a few moments away from losing his arm. So he did the only thing he thought of, he grabbed the back of Arlong's head with his other arm and slammed him into the concrete head first. Arlong let go of his elbow and Luffy managed to pull it away from the deadly grip. But he was still injured, still in pain and bleeding. He had no other choice but to fall over not too far away from Arlong.

_**~X~**_

A burst of black lightning hit Krrim square in the eye and the devil screamed, grabbing the damaged side of the face. Yet it was just a beginning.

Vergil, seeing red due to Krrim's comment slammed his fist into Krrim's jaw, shattering it into tiny pieces. Another punch completely obliterated the lower part of the devil's face and Vergil proceeded to spread his wings and raise them above his head. As a ball of lightning began forming between the upper tips of Vergil's wings he grabbed Krrim's neck. Screams he didn't even realize were still going on began dying out as black lightning coming from the same ball of lightning between Vergil's wings struck him repeatedly.

"_**Please**_, _**no**_," Krrim pleaded just before Vergil crushed the sides of his neck. His red eyes shone with the wrath of lightning, but he wasn't done yet. Using his wings to gain more speed he dived down, all the way to the bottom.

Darkness vanished, leaving lightning alone as two devils hit the bottom of the sea. Krrim was yet to get up, maybe he was already dead but Vergil wanted only one thing. To obliterate him completely. Lightning began rapidly gathering around his right arm, the intensity increased over and over again. Electric blue lightning began glowing, heating up the sea all around it.

Vergil looked at the lightning that kept getting stronger and stronger with every passing moment. **Vajra**, diamond lightning, it was Vergil's pride, his own creation.

He charged straight at Krrim's still fallen form, fueled by wrath and still so angry he'd attack anyone that would dare to oppose him. His fist slammed into Krrim's abdomen and lightning rapidly spread, exploding and obliterating Krrim completely along with seafloor around them within twenty meters wide orb.

_**~X~**_

Luffy panted on the ground, trying to ignore the pain coming from pretty much every part of his body. He had been bitten, stabbed by that damn nose, and hit by a torpedo shark. Even his rubber body had some limits and he knew he wouldn't be able to take much more of that.

"Hey, Luffy! Hide!" Usopp yelled. "He went back into the water!" he warned while Luffy got back to his feet.

"Aniki, hurry, and hide!"

"He's gonna attack again!"

Yosaku and Johnny also tried to get him to flee to safety.

Nami just clenched her fist.

"RUN!" Usopp yelled again.

Luffy gritted his teeth, glaring at the water. "No," he decided.

"What are you saying, you moron?! You wanna just stand there and be an easy target? Go and hide!" Sanji yelled, frustrated by Luffy's stubborn and rather reckless decision.

Zoro just watched him. Silent and focused.

"No! I'm gonna break that nose of his!" he declared. "Bring it on! Sharky!"

"What part of hiding do you not understand, Luffy? You just got lucky before and barely dodged it! But if he hits you this time, you're doomed!" Usopp tried to reason with him before it was too late.

Luffy responded to that by grabbing his fingers and pulling them. "**Gomu Gomu no Shield**!" he exclaimed and just stood there, waiting and ready.

He could see Arlong's form approaching from the water and took his attack head-on. The impact forced him up to the air but Arlong was stopped.

Luffy grinned, it worked and he pushed himself to the side to fully evade the attack.

"What? Is he dead?" Usopp cried out, not sure what just happened.

"No, he got away in time," Sanji replied as Luffy grabbed onto the wall like a spider.

"I stopped your little trick, so I guess you can't use it anymore," Luffy guessed. However, the already familiar sound of Arlong yelling **Shark On Darts** made him jump away from the building. "You bastard, haven't you used enough of that?"

"You're finished!" Arlong torpedoed towards Luffy once again.

"Take this!" Luffy made a net out of his fingers and stretched them to catch Arlong. "**Gomu Gomu no Net**! Fishing! Let's fish!" he slammed Arlong on the ground and spun in mid-air with his feet pressed together. "**Gomu Gomu no Spear**!" he hit Arlong dead on.

While most people around her cheered Nami remained silent, until she was sure it would be over she wasn't letting herself celebrate early.

"Hm? Is he dead?" Luffy wondered as he fell back to the ground.

The moment he said that Arlong's eyes opened and his pupils changed, became more narrow. Indication of complete and utter wrath he felt.

Nami brought her hands to her face, her eyes completely wide at the turn of events. "Arlong… with those eyes, I've never seen him like this!" hope, as quickly as it appeared, began fading again, even after all that Luffy still didn't defeat Arlong.

"You inferior human!" Arlong yelled as he grabbed Luffy and began swinging him around. "How dare you do this to me, a fishman?!" he turned around and threw Luffy into the water.

"LUFFY!" Nami and Zoro screamed as Arlong jumped into the water after him. Usopp and Sanji stared wide-eyed, unable to believe what just happened.

_**~X~**_

Vergil resurfaced, panting for air, it was over, Krrim was dead. Obliterated and gone, for good. He barely had enough strength to take flight, especially now that his wings were wet. He still managed to flap them a few times and get most of the water out. He needed to get to Luffy and others, that way he would probably be able to catch the last bits of battle. Or at least pass out in peace. Looking around he saw Arlong Park in the distance. Not too far away, but certainly not too close either.

Slowly he glided through the air, merely flapping his wings every now and then to keep the same speed. His right arm was just hanging from shoulder down and it was slightly burnt, nothing that wouldn't heal after a good sleep, but still. **Vajra** hurt him.

It always did when he used it without any kind of defensive mechanism. Even if it was his last resort ace up his sleeve it usually wasn't worth it.

Nami and Zoro screaming Luffy's name caught his attention and he forced his wings to take him to Arlong Park faster. Zoro screaming was the last thing he thought he'd hear on this island, but it happened and it sent chills down his spine. What could have gotten that kind of reaction from the swordsman?

The moment he reached Arlong Park he realized Luffy and Arlong were missing while Sanji was running towards the sea.

"Vergil! Luffy's in the water!" Usopp's fearful yell confirmed it. Complete lack of reaction from his crew to his form confirmed it as well.

Vergil dived straight down just in time to see Arlong torpedoing towards sinking Luffy. '_No way in hell!_' summoning most of what little power he had left Vergil shot a relatively big ball of lightning towards Luffy to intercept Arlong.

It worked and Arlong halted. Their eyes met and Vergil charged as much electricity as he could, the message was clear. If Arlong wanted to get fried he'd stay in the water, but if he wanted to live, or at least get a chance to live he'd need to get out of the water.

And he surprisingly did just that, he got out of the water allowing Vergil to swim over to Luffy and get out of the water as well.

Luffy, having just gotten into the water just coughed a few times, but aside from that, he was just fine. "Vergil, you've got wings?!" he exclaimed when he saw them.

Vergil nodded and abruptly reverted to his usual state.

"Devil! Where is Krrim?!" Arlong demanded.

"Dead," Vergil stumbled back closer to the wall and slumped against it. He ignored the enraged expression on Arlong's face, he ignored the gasps that turned into disbelief and quickly ended up as cheers coming from his right, he just didn't have any power left. "That's as far as I can fight, Luffy, he's all yours," he breathed out as his back slid against the wall.

Luffy nodded, not taking his eyes off of Arlong. "Rest, I got this."

Usopp and Sanji went over to Vergil.

Usopp grinned a bit. "You sure had to make an effort," the grin became a bit awkward as Usopp rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He definitely wasn't sure what to say to Vergil right now.

"Come on shitty devil, Nami-san will worry even more if you don't get your ass up and walk over to everyone else," Sanji half encouraged half ordered.

Vergil rolled his eyes and pushed himself to stand up only to nearly fall forward. The only reason he wasn't kissing the ground was Sanji and Usopp catching him in time. He sighed and with a bit of help from Sanji and occasional grunts he managed to make his way to where Zoro was sitting.

Zoro looked at Vergil and their eyes met. They exchanged a nod and Vergil sat down.

Nami knelt down next to him and put her hand on top of his left one. She blinked a few times, fighting back the tears. The smile on her face told him those would have been tears of relief and happiness.

"It'll be fine, everything. Arlong is the only one left," he took a deep breath and fought against the desire to just lose consciousness. "Krrim will never cause you or anyone else and harm."

The moment he said that Nami leaned forward and gently, but quickly, wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Thank you," she whispered and pulled back. She wasn't sure if she hurt him, after all, he looked like he was barely alive.

Vergil raised his head just a bit and smiled. "Sorry, I'm going to sleep now," he mumbled. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Pay attention to the fight," with every word his voice grew quieter until his head slumped down and he just lost consciousness.

Arlong punched through the wall and pulled out a large sawtooth weapon.

"Kiribachi!" Nami gasped, turning her attention back to the battle the moment she heard the wall breaking.

Arlong tightened his grip on Kiribachi, these bastards… they've gone and done it now. Krrim was dead, there was nothing he could do about it, nothing but kill every single one of his opponents. He swung at Luffy forcing the rubber boy to jump up and land on the roof. He roared angrily and began going after Luffy, again and again, he swung, damaging the building he was proud of until Luffy ended up jumping through the window on the top floor.

Nami's eyes widened when she realized where they ended up. '_Top floor, left window… The cartography room!_' the very prison Arlong had her stay in until her hands bled and then some more.

_**~X~**_

"You have nowhere to run now. This is Arlong Park's top floor," Arlong stepped closer to Luffy.

Luffy looked around, finally noticing stacks of paper all around him. "What's this room? It's full of paper."

"Not just any ordinary paper! This is the cartography room," Arlong replied, now that he was certain of his victory he seemed to be less angry. "The room where that girl draws her maps."

Realizing what Arlong was talking about Luffy took full notice of the table and different things Nami would need to draw a map. "Nami's room…"

"She's a good woman, isn't she? You won't find anyone who can draw more accurately. Her talent exists to serve us fishmen forever! Nami you see, is our friend," Arlong boasted, but it was obvious he never considered her to be anything more than a tool.

"Friend?" Luffy repeated, his anger rising. His glare sent a clear message, he was enraged.

"What's with that look?"

"She is… Nami is," Luffy paused for a moment, his glare getting more intense with every passing moment. "Our navigator!" he declared.

"Oh? You want her to pilot that shitty little boat of yours, eh?" a pen fell from Nami's table. "Heh, her talent would only be wasted. Look around you. How many people in the world can draw such perfect maps? That girl is a genius," he placed Kiribachi in front of Luffy's neck. "There couldn't be anything more stupid than wasting such a talent. For that girl, it's best for her to continue her work here. Her greatest happiness,"

Luffy picked up a pen that rolled over to him. "This pen, it's got blood on it," his voice was calm, collected, but inside of him, a storm was raging.

"For me to rule the world, Nami's maps are a necessity! She will keep drawing maps for the sake of my ambition. She will keep drawing maps for the sake of my ambition. And once I have the maps of all the seas in the world, no one will be able to stand against me! The whole world will be mine! And it all starts right here, on this island in East Blue," Arlong was so focused on bragging about his plans he didn't notice Luffy placing the blood-stained pen down and gripping one of the Kiribachi's blades. "How could you possibly use her better than I can? How could you possibly use her better than I can?"

Luffy's grip on the blade tightened so much it shattered. "USE?!" Luffy growled. "What do you take her for?!"

Arlong chuckled. "Inferior race, but still a smart woman. If the rest of the human race are little rats, then she's a cunning cat. And she's a cute one to boot. Here, she gets food and shelter. And we buy her all the clothes she wants. As long as she lives, she will have nothing to worry about. As long as she keeps drawing maps for me, it's all good. She will forever be my tool. No. My friend. Shahahahaha!"

Luffy jumped to his feet and kicked the desk to his left straight through the wall.

_**~X~**_

Nami barely stopped herself from flinching as a loud crash boomed from the cartography room. Surprisingly, instead of Arlong or Luffy, it was a desk. Her desk…

The same desk she was forced to sit at and work on maps that would help Arlong. Memories of Arlong taking her to that room for the first time, memories of that one time she drew a fake map and Bell-mere's face, it all hit her the moment that desk crashed against the ground.

It was quickly followed by the bookshelf and more furniture. The room was being torn apart and somehow Nami knew Luffy was doing it on purpose.

As the maps began falling from the room as well she slowly brought a hand up to cover her lips. "Thank you," she mumbled through tears.

And then, everything calmed down. Just for a few moments.

_**~X~**_

Luffy screamed as Arlong dug his teeth into the left side of Luffy's neck.

"You've gone too far, you rubber bastard!"

Luffy managed to grab onto Arlong's nose. "I don't give a crap how great you fishmen are! I don't give a crap about what happens to your stupid maps! I may not understand what happened on this island, but now, I know what I've gotta do to help her!" he broke Arlong's nose, forcing him to let go and step back.

His eyes displayed one emotion, raw wrath. This was not a childish captain, this was Luffy, at his most serious and completely driven by pure wrath caused by the thought of what his Nakama had to endure. "It's this room. I can't let it exist. This room she doesn't want to be in. I'll destroy it all! **Gomu Gomu no**-" he stretched his foot up high into the air, breaking through the roof and knocking Arlong's flag off.

Arlong straightened his nose. "Arlong Park will never be destroyed by the likes of you. **Shark On Gear**!"

"**AXE**!" with a battle cry Luffy slammed his foot down on Arlong's back and forced him all the way down the ground.

_**~X~**_

Nami's eyes widened as Arlong Park, the entire building began breaking down! It was collapsing!

"Everyone run!" everyone ran away from the collapsing building.

"Nami-aneki, hurry!" Johnny tried to pull her away.

"But Luffy's still in there!" she cried out and tried to get closer to the building, if Johnny didn't pull her away she probably would have run inside. "Wait! Luffy… Luffy is still! LUFFY!" she cried out as the building finally collapsed.

The dust settled but Luffy was nowhere to be found and Nami began fearing the worst. He won, she knew it, but what if something happened to him? What if he was bleeding out underneath that rubble?

All her worries vanished the moment Luffy emerged from the rubble, standing with his head slightly lowered, fists clenched, and breathing heavily. He was alive.

"Luffy!" she exclaimed and to say that she was happy to see him would be an understatement.

"Is he okay?" Usopp wondered while Luffy just stood there, still silent.

And then…

"NAMI!" Luffy yelled at the top of his lungs.

Nami looked at him, it was all she could do.

"YOU ARE MY NAKAMA!"

Tears fell from her eyes and she nodded, confirming his words once and for all. She was free and she was his navigator. His Nakama.

_**~X~**_

Two days and the party wasn't stopping, well, they did just get freed from eight years of slavery so Vergil guessed it was reasonable.

As for him, he was still lying in the bed. Even Zoro was back on his feet, yet he remained in the hospital. He was fine, though he was still tired from using **Vajra**, he could leave if he wanted or needed to but he just didn't feel like going outside. The party was too loud and he kind of felt uneasy furthermore those humans saw him Half-awakened. He did help save them, but he really didn't want to keep reminding them of devils.

Muffled voices caught his attention, the doctor, Nako if he remembered correctly and Genzo. He wasn't sure if there were any more people with them. He didn't really care at the moment either. Half a minute later the two entered the hospital.

"How are you feeling?" the doctor asked as Vergil sat up.

"Fine," he replied and moved to properly sit on the side of the bed. "Did someone get injured?" he didn't really find any other reason for them to be here.

Genzo removed his hat and sat down on the bed that was next to Vergil's. "No, I just didn't get a chance to properly thank you," he replied. "For saving my life, more importantly for helping Nami. Thank you."

Vergil studied the man's eyes. He was annoyed with the way villagers just left her on her own, which was another reason he didn't feel like having a party, but he could see they cared about her. They loved her. "She is my Nakama," he replied and thought back to their little interaction, if one could refer to it as such, with Zduhach. "About what you heard before you woke up," he paused for a moment. "Keep it a secret," he wasn't forceful about it, but he made sure Genzo got the message. As far as everyone was concerned he was a devil, Genzo finding out what he actually was wasn't planned.

Genzo looked a bit anxious. "What did that mean?"

"That I am half-devil half-human," he replied blankly, there weren't any emotions surrounding that fact, it was just his blood. As far as his actions went, he was as more of a devil than most.

Genzo nodded visibly relaxing. "I understand; I'll keep it a secret. It's comforting though, knowing what you are. It's easier to accept the way Nami spoke about you," the man chuckled a bit as if he was in on something.

Vergil raised an eyebrow but quickly dismissed it.

After a few minutes of silence, Genzo stood up and put his hat back on. "Nami is like a daughter to me, so I'm obliged to tell you this. Don't hurt her."

Vergil nodded. "Never intentionally. I promise."

_**~X~**_

Nami once again sat in front of Bell-mere-san's grave; she was going to leave soon so she wanted to spend as much time as she could there.

"Good times came in the end," Nojiko's voice was also something she wouldn't hear in a long time, if ever again. Being a pirate was dangerous after all, no matter how strong her Nakama were.

She didn't turn to face her older sister but she grinned as widely as she could. "Yeah. In an ironic way though," she chuckled. Seriously, who would have guessed they'd be saved by a pirate crew.

Nojiko sat down next to her and put her arm around Nami's shoulders. "Come here, you," she pulled Nami into a side hug. "My little sister, happy at last," there was relief in her voice, Nojiko was just as happy as Nami herself, maybe even happier, after all, Nami was still in a bit of disbelief, still waiting for the dream to end as if it was too good to be true.

"They are amazing," Nami spoke up after a bit of silence. She genuinely thought she found the best crew in the world. Even if they were a bit crazy and not the smartest guys all around.

Nojiko nodded. "I've never seen anyone do and risk so much just for one person. Not since Bell-mere-san," she agreed.

Nami looked at Nojiko's waist, the place where she was shot. "If they didn't come for me this would have been all for nothing, even if I collected the money and bought the village. If I lost you and Gen-san…" she shuddered at the thought, just watching her remaining family hurt, Nojiko shot and Gen-san barely alive with Vergil being the only one capable of saving him. It was horrifying. No, it was worse than that. It was as if death was better. And she felt just as bad while Luffy and Vergil were fighting, while they were evading death again and again.

But now that it was all over she knew one thing. She could never thank her Nakama enough so she decided. She'd be the best navigator in the world, she'd get stronger, she'd pull her own weight. Hell, if it meant training with Zoro… actually, that would probably kill her. Vergil, yeah, he'd do, he'd probably be reasonable enough.

Probably.

She'd decide later, for now, she just wanted to enjoy the company of her sister.

"I wonder who you'll fall in love with, I mean you have quite a few options," Nojiko suddenly teased and Nami lightly slapped her on the wrist.

"You get them if you're so interested," she smirked.

Nojiko laughed briefly. "Pass. I don't think long-distance would work out. Though your First-"

Nami shot her a glare. "Don't you dare say it," she warned.

"What? He looks human. He gave you that machete and you went to check on him quite a few times already and-"

Nami put a finger in front of Nojiko's mouth. "I get it, but it's not like that. Vergil's a good friend, that's all."

Nojiko chuckled. "You're so easy to tease," she was smiling warmly, which of course made Nami huff. "But in all seriousness, if you start feeling that way," this time it was her turn to shush Nami. "I'm just saying if it happens and he shows he feels the same, go for it. So what if he's a devil."

Nami remained silent, though a small part of her appreciated what Nojiko said. If nothing else she accepted Vergil as much as she accepted the human part of her crew and it meant a lot.

_**~X~**_

"-il, Vergil, wake up," and he had just fallen asleep, or at least he felt like that.

Slowly he raised his right hand and brought it over to his eyes to rub the sleep out. "What is it, Nami?" good thing he was conscious enough to recognize her voice.

Nami placed her hands on her hips and he noticed she was wearing a white T-shirt. "I was getting worried, Doctor Nako said you've been sleeping for six hours."

Vergil blinked a few times, which explained why he felt like he got ran over. He's been lying for too long. He groaned as he slowly rolled his shoulders.

"You know, people usually go to sleep tired and wake up fresh for a new day, or night in this case, not the other way around," she had a small smile on her face, indicating she was merely teasing him.

Still, Vergil rolled his eyes. "Oh, get off of my back," he didn't mean to sound annoyed but it just came off that way.

Nami frowned at that. "Gee, sorry to bother you Mr. Grumpy."

Did she just sound a bit rejected? Or something like that, quite frankly Vergil wasn't awake enough to read her tone. "We're leaving tomorrow, right?" he kept his eyes closed and thus didn't see Nami's reaction.

She sat down next to him. "You guys are," she replied casually.

Vergil immediately sat up, completely awake, and looking at her with wide eyes. "What about you?" he should have seen it coming, she didn't have any reason to keep being a pirate. He probably still hoped she'd go with them, but it was just a hope and he was well aware he couldn't force her to come. She had more than enough of that for eternity.

Nami looked to her left, avoiding his eyes. "I'm thankful, but, I want to stay with Nojiko," she explained and took the chance while he was pretty much frozen to hug him. "I'll miss you guys, but, I finally got my freedom back."

Vergil closed his eyes and hugged her back. For the first time in over a year, he felt the pain of separation; proper pain, and not usual goodbyes to random people.

Sound of chuckling made him open his eyes again and then completely freeze when Nami tightened her grip on him and moved closer to his neck. Chuckled turned into laughter and for some reason, her lips touched the side of his neck. It was an accident, he knew it, she just leaned forward when she couldn't rein in her laughter. '_Just kill me, please_,' he mentally pleaded and moved his neck just a bit away from her lips. '_Too close_.'

"That was too easy," she finally stopped chuckling and leaned back to look him in the eyes. "Of course I'm going with you."

That was great news, absolutely, but he still had to calm his heart down.

"What's wrong?" she asked curiously when she realized he was not responding and more importantly holding his breath.

Vergil just pointed at her, then at the side of his neck, and leaned his forehead against his closed fist. He even let out a frustrated sigh.

Nami seemed puzzled. "Did I hurt you? I mean I know I accidentally had my lips against it, but that shouldn't hurt you, right?"

"No, no, it's really not that. It's," he paused and looked to the side. "I don't want to talk about it," oh he knew he was blushing, he could feel the heat all over his face.

Nami raised an eyebrow at that and then a mischievous grin appeared on her face. "You got turned on, didn't you?"

"NO!" Vergil really didn't mean to snap that quickly.

Nami poked him on the cheek. "You so did," she insisted.

"Teeth are sharp," he muttered.

She chuckled and Vergil didn't understand what was so funny about it. "Never would have guessed you were into that."

Vergil willed himself to glare at her. "You saw how much pain fingers can cause. Imagine if it was something as sharp as canines."

That stopped her chuckles and she even gave him a small apologetic smile. "It made you uncomfortable, sorry, I didn't think about that," it looked like she'd just let it go, but then she remembered one thing. "Why were you blushing then?"

No way out. He didn't want to lie. "Well… Devils protect their necks on instinct and it's one thing to let someone hug me or voluntarily let Luffy squeeze my neck. Letting someone's lips near my weak spot is, uh, I'm not sure you'll like it."

"Try me."

Well, she asked for it. "That's usually a sign of trust reserved only for lovers."

The effect was instantaneous as Nami's cheeks went bright red. "Let's not mention this again," she mumbled.

Vergil nodded. "I'll go to sleep again, so yeah…" things were just too awkward for him to not do that. She was a human and he was a devil, well, as far as she was concerned. Even mentioning the idea was ridiculous.

_**~X~**_

Nami quickly got outside, after talking to Nojiko and the way Nojiko teased her she really didn't need what just happened. She could feel her heart racing, too many implications in one night, way too many. Why did she have to hug him like that?

Oh, right, to make that little joke she thought of on spot more believable.

So much for taking him around the village and showing him where she grew up. Now that she thought about it that idea was silly anyway and only adding more fuel to her embarrassment.

How was she supposed to know that weak spot had a few other meanings?!

Right, she didn't know. It didn't mean anything, just a little accident they were going to forget by morning and it would all be fine, just the way it was before.

_**~X~**_

Vergil handed Zoro the last crate filled with supplies. Villagers were kind enough to give them more than enough of everything they could need. And he really meant more than enough. In fact, he was sure not even Luffy could drain their food supplies in three days with how much they got.

"Vergil?" he turned around to see Nami's sister, Nojiko, approaching him.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked, he'd hate to have Nami leave while her sister wasn't well.

She smiled and the expression on her face instantly reminded him of Nami. A confident, fearless smile that held a certain kindness to it. "Of course, well aside from Nami leaving. I'd lie if I said I wasn't worried, or sad."

Vergil nodded at that. "I guess I get it, Grand Line is dangerous from what we've heard."

"Keep her safe, alright?" Nojiko looked him in the eyes waiting for the response.

"I will for as long as I'm alive," Vergil promised, fully intent on keeping that promise.

And he would likely need to. From what he heard some Marine captain, the same that tried to steal Nami's money, came to Arlong Park after the battle and tried to arrest them. Things were easily solved but the promise of paying for what they did remained. It probably wouldn't be long until Luffy got a bounty.

"NAMI-SAN!" Sanji's love-struck scream got everyone to look towards the village and see Nami standing there.

"Nami?" Nojiko was honestly confused as to what she was planning.

"SET SAIL!" and with that being said Nami began running.

"Well, Navigator's orders," Vergil said and jumped up to the ship.

"Lower the sails!" Luffy ordered and Vergil and Sanji did as they were told while Zoro raised the anchor. Usopp, on the other hand, steered the ship to ninety degrees.

"Hey, you sure you wanna let her leave this way?" Sanji asked.

"It's alright. It's her decision," Luffy replied.

All the while Vergil looked as Nami made her way through the crowd, for some reason zig-zagging around. "What the hell is she doing?" it couldn't be the quickest route; she was making too many turns for that to be the case.

Finally, she made her way to the very edge, and with her eyes closed and teeth gritted she jumped right past her sister.

And even with all that, she landed on the railing and then jumped down. Now on the ship she just stood with her back turned to her village. And for some reason, she lifted her shirt up.

_'Ah, so that's why…'_ Vergil sweatdropped as wallets began forming a small mountain around her feet.

As the villagers cried out for their missing wallets Nami took out a bill and kissed it before turning to them with a cheeky smirk. "Everyone, take care."

"YOU LITTLE BRAT!" the entire village yelled as one.

Smirk turned in the most honest smile Vergil had ever seen on her face.

"Oi, she hasn't changed at all," Usopp commented.

"Who knows when she'll turn on us again," Zoro added.

"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed, which was to be expected.

"Nami-san, GOOD!" Sanji, of course, complimented her with a thumb up.

Vergil smiled. "Whatever makes you happy," he mumbled to his chin. Subconsciously he reached out to the side of his neck. Not a lover, not even close to that. But a damn close friend he trusted with his life, and his neck. Even if the accidental gesture was way more intimate than it was supposed to be.

"You li'l thieving cat!"

"Come back here with my wallet!"

"You bad girl!"

The villagers started out like that, but they quickly changed their tune.

"Come back anytime!"

"Take care!"

"Thank you so much!"

"BOY!" Genzo's yell caught Luffy's full attention. "Don't forget our promise!"

Luffy gave the man a thumb up.

"Goodbye, everyone! I'm off!" Nami yelled, her voice brimming with happiness and as the ship sailed further away she spared one last glance in the direction of her childhood home.

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_**A**__**rlong Park - Completed**_

* * *

_**I actually wanted to update this a bit sooner, but while I was writing my brain was like "I make proper sentences do not," and well it never happened to me before. The writing just felt chopped up, glued together and then chopped up again and then barely lined up in close proximity. So, the smart thing I came up with ended up being lazing around for a couple of days before I finally sat down and got down to writing this. Also… Arlong is one of the most boring opponents to write! Come on! The bastards has like two attacks he keeps spamming and Luffy can't end it with two good hits. Another reason why only the most important parts of that fight were shown. As for Vergil VS Krrim, I'm curious to hear what you thought about it. I'll be honest and say I'm not too pleased with it, but I feel like I'd just be stretching it out.**_

_**Before I finish this part of author note I'd like to recommend a story for you all. If you head to my profile and check my favorite stories you'll see a story named "Equilibrium" written by EmotinalRealist. The story is just getting started, with only three chapters for you to read and I believe it deserves more attention than it got so far. It is a bit darker, but in my opinion, it is worth giving it a chance. **_

* * *

_**Answers on reviews:**_

_**Sagicknight – Yeah, Vergil, go.**_

_**Guest – Thanks.**_

_**JokerAka – I think I ended up doing just that, it really did get done faster than it did the first time I was writing Arlong Park battles.**_

_**Guest – Thank you! Yeah, go Straw Hats.**_

_**KP360 – Vergil! Take it from here!**_

_ **V: Come back here you- oh whatever. Heh, well, as terrifying as he was I was scarier. And after what he did he should be happy he just got to die. Anyway, Author was having some trouble deciding whether to end the fight away from Arlong Park or within it and you've seen what she decided. As for Multi-verse, you are neither right nor wrong. It's more like multi-dimension without ability to change past and do things like in Endgame for example. Author will eventually explain it.**_

_**Hawk – V: Straightforward. Nice.**_

_**C.S. Skywalker – V: Perks of having control over electricity. **_

_ **Yeah, stopping my reply… Real perk…**_

_ **V: Go back to your cake, I'm the master of your digital world!**_

_ **And now he is trying to be a Digimon. I'll take it from here Vergilmon. With him out of the way, well, we kind of already covered the confusing bits, so I'll only say, for whoever cares to read this besides you, that it'll be addressed in the next chapter. It's not the same thing Hody took, that's for sure, but it's similar. The only major differences are that taking more won't increase power and that devil that takes it still needs to be exposed to natural element, in Krrim's case water. You're spot on with what I'll reveal later down the line, it won't be anything too big but there will be something for him later down the line.**_

_**Guest – I hope you enjoyed this chapter then, since there was a tiny bit of romance, kind of. Anyway, thanks, I certainly intend to do it. But when you realize that I've just scratched the surface and am likely less than five percent done with this chapter it kind of takes a lot of will to not get overwhelmed.**_

_**scarlet rose white – Thank you, I hope this chapter was even better. **_


	16. East Blue's highest bounty

_**Arc 6 – Loguetown**_

* * *

_**Chapter 16 – East Blue's highest bounty**_

* * *

"Parameters?" a voice inquired.

"Normal," came the response.

"Devil Arm?" another question followed by a brief silence.

"Stabilized, we're set to begin," a hand was placed on a lever as soon as the words were said.

"Begin," with that simple word blue liquid around Perun began turning deep purple.

_**~The Human World, several hours earlier~**_

The night was beautiful, clear sky filled with stars, not a single cloud anywhere in sight and for once the crew left the comfort of their bed and hammocks for makeshift sleeping bags on the deck of the Going Merry.

"-and then I shot a cannon at it and sent it all the way to the stars," Usopp just finished telling them a tale about how he singlehandedly defeated a powerful monster.

"Awesome!" Luffy's eyes sparkled with excitement before he leaned over Nami to nudge Vergil's shoulder. "Right, Vergil?"

Vergil nodded dismissively. "Sure, Luffy," he agreed, not really sure which tall tale Usopp told them.

"Luffy," Nami slowly voiced her presence from below the rubber captain. They weren't touching but Luffy was obliviously in her personal space.

"Hm?" Luffy blinked, confused at the menacing tone of her voice only to be rewarded for his ignorance with a punch to the face.

Vergil sweatdropped, granted, it was the third time Luffy leaned over Nami to talk to him. Looking to his left Vergil saw Zoro was still blissfully sleeping, as far as the swordsman was concerned it was just a bunch of stars. He still came out so there was that.

"Shishishi, this is fun!" Luffy grinned as he sat up and leaned back on his hands, looking at the sky.

"Nami-san! I brought the snacks!" Sanji came out of the kitchen, carrying several plates of snacks and drinks. It was, after all, one of their last nights in East Blue, and the clear sky just gave them another reason to relax and enjoy the calm nature of the sea they were sailing.

Smiling, Vergil slowly drifted off, East Blue wasn't his birthplace, it wasn't where he grew up in, but it felt like home. Although, as long as he was with the crew he felt like wherever he was it would feel like home.

_**~X~**_

A sound of buzzing followed by the brief crackle of sparks disrupted Luffy's sleep. Vergil was probably training, though he never did it near them. The sparks appeared again, but it wasn't like usual, something was different; it felt like they weren't controlled.

Luffy's eyes abruptly opened and he jumped to his feet. Immediately he saw Vergil's body trembling, it was happening again. Luffy jumped over Nami and leaned down to press the sides of Vergil's neck. It worked and Vergil slowly calmed down, his lightning subsiding gradually until it vanished.

With Vergil calm again Luffy sat down cross-legged between his first mate and his navigator, his straw hat covered his eyes as the crew stirred.

"Luffy?" Nami was the first to properly wake up. "Again?"

Luffy nodded and heard Zoro sitting up.

"What do you know about it, Luffy?" Zoro asked, by now everyone was looking at him and Vergil. Usopp was a few feet away, sitting, not sure what was happening and Sanji was leaning against the mast. Nami was the only one that got as close as Zoro, as she sat down next to Luffy.

"Vergil must have some idea what is going on," Nami said and Luffy knew she was right.

"I don't get it," he muttered as he looked at Vergil. "Something about a soul and a mystery weapon and Vergil's sister," Luffy didn't get it, he didn't understand what happened and back then Vergil wasn't explaining it through meat.

"Sister?!" Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji repeated much to Luffy's confusion, Nami had a sister, he had brothers, what was so surprising about Vergil having a sister?

"Galina?" Nami asked and Luffy's eyes widened, that was the name Vergil mentioned.

"Yeah! That's the one," he immediately turned to Nami. "Do you know her? Maybe she can give back that mystery thing!"

Nami shook her head lightly and Luffy's excitement deflated immediately. "Sorry, Luffy, I just heard the name and figured they were related."

Luffy sat back down. Disappointed he couldn't do anything to help his Nakama.

_**~X~**_

Vergil woke up in the morning; it happened again, he felt it. He clenched his fists, hating how powerless he felt to put a stop to it. It had to be connected to Perun, wherever it was, there was no other explanation that would fit.

There was one thing he could do, explain what he thought was happening to him. To the entire crew.

Feeling a bit stiff from all the lying, Vergil stretched his arms out and immediately winced. His right arm was still sore. '_Using _**Vajra**_ without Perun wasn't my best idea,_' he thought. Well, it wasn't really a conscious decision, he just went with his most destructive ability. Good thing he had enough self-restraint to stop using **Storm Hazard**… that would have been instant death.

Still, it's been nearly a week since he killed Krrim. It never took him this long to recover from **Vajra**. Even as a child he could use it and be back to his full strength naturally in a day or so. Finally, he stood up and concentrated on his shoulder blades. He envisioned his wings, he could see them appearing on his back, but nothing happened. He couldn't use Half-awakened state again. He probably needed to be angered. "Heh, of course, that's how it would turn out," he grumbled and climbed out of the bedroom.

Once outside, he took a deep breath, the others were in the kitchen and he could smell the food, judging by the sound of it Sanji was still preparing it. They needed to know what to do when this happened again in case Luffy wasn't nearby.

The kitchen doors opened wide. "Hey, Vergil, come on, the food's ready," Luffy called him over, already stuffing a piece of meat in his mouth while Sanji was setting food on the table.

Vergil had to chuckle at that as he walked into the kitchen. "I better hurry, then," he lightly slapped Luffy's hand away from his plate and sat down. By now he was pretty much sure Luffy did that unconsciously.

"About last night," Nami opened up the conversation, not taking her eyes off of her plate for a single moment, she knew what would happen to her food if she did so.

"I'll tell you everything I know once we eat," Vergil assured her and from the corner of his eye, he could see the smallest nod.

"You better," Zoro said. "I don't care about your past and I'm sure the same goes for everyone. But we need to know if it will happen during the battle and we need to know what to do if it does," it was all they needed, it didn't matter what happened if Vergil wasn't comfortable with saying it.

A quick, due to eating with a certain rubber food thief, meal later the crew remained sitting at the table.

Vergil touched the side of his neck, right at one of the spots Luffy pressed the night before. "This is where a zhar is, it's a small organ, shaped like a liver. If you apply enough pressure you can prevent soul, source of power for devils and demons, from flowing through the body. It causes pain and weakens and in my case stops my little episodes, so to speak," he explained and removed his finger from his neck.

"What happens to you? It's seemingly random," Zoro inquired, understanding now what Luffy was doing.

Vergil hesitated for a few moments. "Thirteen years ago I created my Devil Arm, a weapon made by separating a large piece of my soul, 45 percent to be exact, and permanently forming a weapon I can summon at any time. Or rather, I could. Two years ago my half-sister, Galina, stole it for whatever reason," he gritted his teeth, feeling the anger rising slightly.

"So it's some kind of reaction to what she did?" Sanji guessed.

"Maybe, I can't rule it out, that it's just my body reacting to the incomplete soul. However, I think she or someone else is doing something to my Devil Arm," thinking back it never happened during the battle or stressful situations. "I'm guessing they need me to be calm or something for whatever they are doing to work, it's just speculation on my part but I think as long as I'm fighting it can't happen," at least he hoped that would be the case.

"What if they are trying to control you?" Usopp asked, clearly just a bit scared.

Vergil dismissed it. "As I am it wouldn't be beneficial, if they planned to take control over my mind they would have taken me as well," if they put Perun back in him and found a way to control him through it then maybe, but as it was he would be too weak for all that effort to be worth it.

"How much of a difference does it make? I mean it's less than half your power," Nami pointed out.

"Nami-san, it doesn't work exactly like that. I don't know exact numbers, but it's much more than that," Sanji corrected her.

Vergil raised an eyebrow at that, curious as to how Sanji knew about that. "Devil soul is divided into three main portions. 45 percent for identity, memories, I, so to speak, 5 percent for the most basic instincts which largely depend on the kind of soul. Mine is lightning, so, it primarily wants to fight and destroy, remaining 50 percent, from which you separate the Devil Arm, is power, part of the soul that replenishes after use."

Nami's eyes widened. "So if you had your Devil Arm, you'd be ten times stronger?"

"If I used that Half-awakened state you saw me in after the fight with Krrim. It takes a lot of energy to use that form without a Devil Arm and that's one of the main reasons devils create them. Once we have a Devil Arm we can unleash that form and in combination with the Devil Arm get that times ten increase," Vergil clarified but the gist of ten times stronger remained.

"What about Krrim's form?" Zoro questioned, it didn't look like Krrim had any weapons.

"That's a Devil Trigger, an imperfect one, caused by outside influence. Devil Arms unlock potential to master that form naturally but many don't bother with how taxing the form is," the conversation turned fairly comfortable as far as Vergil was concerned, he felt at ease just explaining the mechanics of how Devil Arms worked to his Nakama. Finally, he turned to Luffy who was looking at him with the blankest stare he ever saw. "You didn't get a thing I said, right, Luffy?"

"Yep!" Luffy declared it, almost too proudly.

"So, let's say I was a piece of meat, Galina stole my meat and left me as a bone, with only a few small leftover pieces of meat. So now I'm not as good at being meat as I should be," Vergil summed it up making Sanji and Usopp fall over, Zoro sigh and Nami just facepalm.

Luffy looked like a lightbulb turned on in his head. "We'll get your meat back, I promise," Luffy grinned.

Vergil burst out laughing at that. "I'm counting on you, captain," he smiled. Everything seemed fine, the worry was for the most part gone and the crew relaxed considerably.

Vergil looked through the window, memories of his last proper conversation with Galina coming to mind. Was he wrong back then? Was she always going to betray him and Grom? Most importantly, why didn't they notice?

_**~X~**_

_It took him half a year, but he was finally ready to get back to training. 'I'm fine. I'm fine. It's going to be all right,' he thought again and again as he looked into the mirror. The bathroom was suffocating him, so small, with barely any space to move. He hated it, he hated the look in his eyes. The smallest hint of fear he could see as he looked in the mirror. _

_His wounds were healed, his body recovered, marks of those three months vanished. His hair got longer, nearly reaching his shoulders and he had grown thinner._

_"Verge?"_

_He nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of Galina's voice._

_"Just give me another minute," he responded, leaning his palms against the mirror. 'Get out, come on, just get out. I can leave, nothing's holding me back, just get out. It's that simple.'_

_Doors slammed open and he let out a burst of lightning so strong it blew up the wall behind him. He raised his fists and narrowed his eyes but then just slumped to the floor. It was Galina._

_Who else was he expecting? Acharon? Apolion? It was pitiful, but all he saw when he looked at his half-sister was understanding. She reached out to him, clearly going for his shoulder. That is until she lowered her hand and just placed it on his right forearm. "I flinched again, didn't I?"_

_She just nodded. "You sounded like you were hyperventilating again. Sorry, I startled you," she apologized, looking to the side and then at the rubble behind them. "At least your powers are still as destructive as they used to be," she offered him a small smile._

_Vergil pulled his arm away from her reach and stood up. "I need to go train."_

_Galina whipped her head to the side, her skin paled at what she just heard. "After all that you still want to fight? Vergil, look at you, you're-"_

_"Too weak. I need to get stronger, I don't ever want to feel so trapped again," he interrupted her._

_Her breathing was shaky as she grabbed his hand. "It's useless, you can't win! No one can! Grom was the strongest fighter Volos ever had! You are the youngest known user of __**Devil Trigger**__ and you have a Devil Arm; it was useless. Grom's dead. You were held captive for three months," she paused, tears rolling down her face. "I can't do this anymore, Vergil. I can't fight again. I just can't."_

_It was the first time he walked away from her when she was crying. Now he needed, more than ever, to feel the comfort of proper training. "I know, but I can't stay weak."_

_**~X~**_

About an hour later the entire crew was outside, just doing their things, from the corner of his eye Vergil could see Luffy trying to sneak behind Sanji's back to take one of Nami's tangerines.

Vergil and Zoro were sitting with their backs against the railing a bit away from the crew, their sparring sessions were slightly halted due to Zoro's loss of two swords and Vergil no longer having a machete.

"Are you going to get a new weapon?" Zoro asked, only to sweatdrop as Sanji kicked Luffy and it somehow caused Usopp to scream like someone gauged out his eyes.

"No, not really. I don't feel like buying a new Demon Forged and I doubt I'll get a chance to make one anytime soon," besides, when he came to this world he didn't have his weapon, he made it out of the remains of the demon's armor.

"Never figured you knew how to make those," Zoro commented.

Vergil smirked at that. "I wouldn't either, but it's a useful skill to have," he didn't like doing it though, too boring as far as he was concerned.

"These are Nami-san's beloved tangerine trees! I won't allow anyone to lay even a single finger on them!" Sanji declared as he stood there, defending the trees. "Nami-san! Rest assured, my defense powered by love is infallible!" he declared in a much happier and slightly higher-pitched voice.

"Thanks a lot, Sanji-kun," and Nami only had to thank him, not even look at him for Sanji to be pleased.

"What a tool," Zoro sighed.

"She has him wrapped around her finger," Vergil rolled his eyes.

"Worried she'll like him more than she likes you?" Zoro offered him a teasing grin.

"Hah, yeah, that's my biggest fear in life," the white-haired devil grinned.

A sudden scream got their full attention and the two immediately jumped to their feet, there was a flyer and on it was Luffy's grinning face and a bounty of 30 million beri.

Vergil grinned, finally, one step closer to the goal. "Nice," and it was a fine bounty as well.

"Shishishishi! Looks like we're wanted now! It says 30 million beri!" Luffy, of course, was the most excited one of them all.

"Things will get more exciting from here on out," Zoro commented before going back to where he was sitting.

"Once again you splendidly fail to understand the gravity of your situation," Nami definitely wasn't anywhere near as excited as her captain. "Don't you realize this means your life is at risk?! With that bounty, I'm sure the Marine HQ, as well as other strong bounty hunters, will come after you," she knew it was pointless to try and explain the situation to Luffy, but she still tried.

"Come on Nami, this was bound to happen," Vergil placed a hand on her shoulder with a comforting smile.

"You guys are too relaxed about this," Nami sighed as she watched Usopp and Sanji celebrating their potential future bounties. "We won't be able to loiter around in East Blue any longer," she pointed out.

"So let's grab supplies we need and go to the Grand Line," Vergil suggested casually.

"Hey, I see an island up ahead." Zoro stopped their conversation.

"You do…?" Nami turned to look to where Zoro was pointing. Indeed, there was an island up ahead. "That island is proof that we're close to the Grand Line! On that island, there's a famous town called Loguetown. It's also known as the town of the beginning and the end," she explained getting everyone's attention.

"That's a big name," Vergil said.

"There's a good reason, it's the birthplace of the Pirate King, Gold Roger, as well as his execution spot," her words were enough to make Luffy completely serious.

"So that's the town that the Pirate King died at," Luffy muttered, his gaze fixed on the island.

"Shall we go?" Nami asked with a smile on her face, the answer was already obvious, but it was Luffy's decision in the end.

"Yeah, I want to see it," Luffy responded just as expected.

_**~X~**_

Soon enough the crew was on the main street.

"Whoa! What a big town!" Luffy exclaimed with his arms raised above his head.

"So the pirate age all began from here, eh?" Sanji looked around, it was a nice town, though he never would have guessed it.

"OK, then! I'm gonna go see the execution stand!" and just like that Luffy actually ran off, he didn't even let give them a chance to tell him where to go.

"I should go after him," Vergil was about to go after Luffy but Nami grabbed him by the forearm.

"You're going with me," she made it obvious she wasn't accepting no for an answer and with that grin on her face, Vergil found it hard to reject her.

"Fine, I guess," Vergil agreed, he couldn't really think of anything that would pose a threat to Luffy right now.

"Hey, Nami, I have something I want to buy but..." Zoro knew what he needed, he knew where he could get it, but he had a bad feeling about it.

"I'll happily lend you some money, at 300 percent interest that is," yeah, it was a bad idea, but Zoro needed money.

"Fine, give me a hundred thousand," Zoro accepted, having no other choice.

"Really, your own crew needs to pay you back with interest?" Vergil raised an eyebrow and Nami just smirked at him.

"Come on," she handed Zoro the money and beckoned Vergil to come along.

_**~X~**_

Vergil couldn't help but feel a tiny bit awkward as he walked next to Nami, after all the last time they were alone was back on her island in that hospital. Absentmindedly he rubbed the side of his neck, the same side her lips touched back then. He chose to ignore what happened and focused on what was going on at the moment. "So, where are we going?" he asked eventually as they moved through the streets.

"I want to do a bit of shopping, pick some clothes for the journey," she replied.

Vergil nodded, "And you figured I could help with bags?" he was actually fine with it.

Nami glanced at him. "We can separate if you'd like," she offered him a way out.

Vergil grinned at that. "No need, I don't mind if it's you," he paused for a moment as the idea popped in his head. "One suggestion though."

Nami raised an eyebrow at that. "Hmm?"

The white-haired male leaned a bit to the side just so he could whisper in her ear. "Let's go get a drink afterward," he offered.

"Sure, we can do that," Nami didn't have any complaints about that. "Let's go in here," she made her way towards a clothes shop, one that looked quite expensive.

Vergil followed after her and leaned against the wall while Nami looked through various combinations of different clothes. She quickly piled up quite a collection and went to try them on.

"Vergil, come over here," she requested barely a minute later and opened the curtains. She had a long fur coat, a skirt, and a fairly revealing shirt on. "How's this?"

"Not practical?" Vergil offered, he had no idea why she would pick those clothes for their journey, it wasn't like they were going on a vacation.

"How do I look, Devil Boy?" Nami clarified, smiling confidently.

"You look good, not that it has anything to do with clothes," and now he was even more confused, so confused in fact that Nami had to walk up to him and lean into his ear, just the way he did not too long ago.

"Tell me how I look in these clothes, not in general," she whispered and walked back into the changing room. She placed a hand on her hip and the look in her eyes told him she wanted another answer.

Vergil smirked. "You can do better than that," he replied.

Nami seemed a tiny bit surprised but she took the challenge, closing the curtains.

"Could I get a chair or something, this could last some time," Vergil requested and the very pleased clerk quickly gave him a chair. "Thank you," he sat down and waited.

Curtains opened to Nami, wearing a long black dress, with a cut on the side and a fur scarf.

"No need for fur," Vergil smirked and Nami returned his smirk.

The next outfit was a light blue, strapless dress.

"Nice and simple," Vergil grinned, changing the pace just a bit.

That confident smile never vanished from Nami's face as she changed into another outfit, a miniskirt, black leather jacket, and tight corset.

"Too much black?" Vergil suggested, it really didn't fit her as far as he was concerned, those brighter colors on the other hand…

Roughly half an hour and dozens of different combinations later Nami opened the curtains for the last time. Vergil's jaw dropped slightly and Nami's smile widened just a little bit. The long red dress with open back hugged her figure, revealing enough but leaving more than plenty to the imagination. "Cat got your tongue?"

"Beautiful," he said simply.

Nami smiled, no longer the confident, slightly mischievous smile, but a happy grin. One last time she closed the curtains and changed back to her clothes.

"So will you be buying all this miss?" the happy clerk asked, having no idea what Nami was about to do to him.

"Nope, don't need it. I want something a little more casual, that's easier to move around in," she just walked out, ignoring the sound of heart breaking behind her as the clerk realized how much work he would have to do to put everything she tried on back in place.

"Just having a bit of fun, huh?" Vergil asked as they walked down the street.

"Yeah, it's fun. You surprised me, I figured you'd be annoyed," Nami admitted, the smile never left her face.

"I don't really mind it. Granted, I really don't get it, but still. I mean, what's the harm in putting up with something that makes you happy?" he genuinely believed that, if Nami was happy doing this then Vergil really didn't have any problems tagging along.

Nami chuckled lightly before giving him a surprise one-armed hug. "Let's go, this time we're actually buying something."

* * *

_**So… Let me start by saying a few things. You guys already know how I work with these updates, but at least it's less than a year, barely, but still, it's been less than a year since my last chapter. Let's get some things clear. I started going with manga while consulting anime here and there for reference. I feel like this could give me more creative freedom with fights and probably let me work faster. I'd like to say I went back and fixed my grammar, spelling, I'm not saying it's perfect now, but it's slightly better. There are a few lines and details I added/removed along the way, but it's nothing that would require a reread.**_

_**Anyway, a bit of a shorter chapter this time around, next one will likely also be a short one seeing as I divided a short arc into two chapters. I also think I'll drop the average word per chapter to around 6000, so there's that. Finally, as far as answers on reviews go I won't respond to each review separately from now on. Reviews that can be summed up as great chapter, good work or something of that kind will be responded in a group, while reviews that have questions, more detailed reviews and such will remain as separate responses. Mostly to avoid same answers over and over again.**_

* * *

_**Answers on reviews:**_

_**Thank you to: Guest, Guest, Sagicknight, muhamed3871.**_

_**C.S. Skywalker – Of course, thank you for the review, I'm really glad you liked the last chapter. I admit the fights in Arlong Park weren't all that engaging and I'll work on fixing that as we continue on with the story.**_

_**Guest – I really like your enthusiasm for these chapters, and thanks for the cookies.**_

_**Guest – No.**_

_**ClyxicRose – Thank you very much, looking back, I have to agree, the original battle worked much better and I probably could have done a much better job with Krrim. I am contemplating the rewrite of chapter 15 as far as the fight goes, but that's still just a thought.**_

_**KP360 – Thank you, I really appreciate the comment about Vergil. Again, pretty much like in the previous response, I agree when it comes to Vergil VS Krrim, especially compared to the original. **_

_**EmotinalRealist – Words thank you can't express how I feel about these reviews, I love the attention to details and just how much you put into reviewing. I can't really find much else to say, the reviews really made my day.**_

_**V: A year ago, but still, finally you update.**_

_**You're alive?!**_

_**V: Barely.**_

_**AtashiWa – Thanks, I'm really glad you enjoyed the chapter so much.**_

_**Thundqh – Yes I am going to update? A year after the last update, but still, an update, a short, miserable chapter of an update, but you know, it's here.**_


	17. The legend has begun

_**Chapter 17 – The legend has begun**_

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Having Vergil by her side proved to be quite a bit of help when it came to the physical side of mass-shopping and Nami appreciated it even more as her Nakama effortlessly carried a large pile of shirts, skirts, and many, many different articles of clothes.

"We'll take all this!" Nami declared with a large, happy, grin on her face while Vergil set the clothes down on the counter.

The lady at the counter looked baffled at how much clothes were placed in front of her. "All this? You sure you even have enough money?"

Nami placed her hands on her hips. "Of course I do! How rude," she huffed, slightly annoyed at the question.

The lady raised her hands in defense. "Sorry, sorry, it's just a lot of clothes and you've got a devil with you so I thought you might want to rob me," she admitted, glancing at Vergil with a slightly worried look in her eyes.

Nami narrowed her eyes at that. "Vergil isn't like that," she was worried at first as well, but she made a mistake back then and it nearly cost her everything.

"Right, I apologize," the lady began putting the clothes in the bag.

"You know there's no need to be so defensive, right?" Vergil whispered, he didn't care what people thought and Nami knew it.

Not that it would stop her. He was her Nakama, of course, she'd stand up for him, even if it was just to say he wasn't some monster people thought he was. "Let me decide on that," she replied and paid for the clothes.

Vergil nodded, before taking the gigantic bag and following after Nami.

They barely stepped outside and Nami stopped. The air, something wasn't right with it. "The air feels different," she commented when Vergil stopped next to her. "The air pressure's dropping. At this rate, there'll be a rainstorm coming.

"Now that you mention it there is a bit more electricity in the air, it's not much but I do feel a bit stronger," Vergil added.

That proved it to Nami, there wasn't much time before the storm. "Darn, I wanted to look around a bit more too and we didn't get that drink either," she complained.

Vergil smirked slightly at that. "Next time?"

"Definitely," Nami smiled at him before quickly going back to the store. "Excuse me, ma'am, do you have any vinyl bags?"

The lady looked confused. "Vinyl bags? But it's not ever raining," nonetheless she gave Nami what she asked for.

"So, back to Merry?" Vergil asked once the clothes were safely stored in vinyl bags.

Nami shook her head. "I've been thinking about what happened lately and I'd like to get you a new Demon Forged. I can't do it on my own so that's why I actually wanted you to come along," she explained, honestly, she felt guilty he lost his machete because of her,

Vergil raised tilted his head slightly. "None of that was your fault," he assured her and she was happy he thought that, but it hardly helped. "And I don't need a new one."

Nami crossed her arms. "Vergil, come on, just let me do something for you," she tried to persuade him. Her plan was simple, take Vergil along, go buy a weapon, the end. She didn't count on the possibility that he, for some reason, didn't want a new weapon.

Vergil smiled and shook his head slightly. "I don't want to fight using something I didn't make; sorry, but there's really no need for that."

Nami sighed, she couldn't force him into getting a new weapon. Now she felt even guiltier for nearly selling the machete. "I almost sold it," she admitted.

He just nodded. "Nami, it doesn't matter, what's done is done," he reached out and took her hand. "You were in a bad situation and just wanted to keep everyone safe, no one can blame you for that."

As she looked into his eyes, the same yellow eyes she used to fear, something in her broke and she hugged him. She leaned her forehead against his shoulder and closed her eyes. "I wanted to choose you. When you asked me to choose between you and Krrim I wanted to choose you," she admitted, she needed Vergil to know she lied back then.

Vergil wrapped one arm around her, his other one still holding the bag. "Thank you," he whispered as if a weight was lifted from his heart. "Come on, let's go home, to Merry."

Nami stepped back with a grin on her face. "Right, let's regroup with others at the town square."

_**~X~**_

Vergil had a bad feeling, he wasn't the only devil in the town, but he figured that was normal. Many crews probably came here before going to the Grand Line and he was certain there were some devils in the Marines as well.

"The air pressure is dropping abnormally. It might be the best to quickly return to Merry," Nami looked slightly worried, if they were caught up in a storm it could make entering the Grand Line even harder than it should be.

At that moment they noticed Usopp and Sanji coming from their left and Zoro coming from their right.

"Hey," Usopp greeted them.

"That's a big fish," Vergil whistled at the sight of the elephant-headed fish.

"Did anyone see Luffy? We need to leave, a storm is coming," Nami cut to the point.

"Shouldn't he be around here? This is where the execution stand is," Zoro pointed towards the center of the square.

Vergil looked around, not seeing the execution stand anywhere in sight.

"In front of you, like right in front of you," Nami sighed, not sure how the devil wasn't noticing it.

Finally noticing the execution stand Vergil's eyes widened. "Shit!" he cursed and dropped the bag before running for the execution square. Luffy was on it and he wasn't alone.

"Why the hell is he on the execution stand?!" Zoro yelled, frustrated, and baffled at the same time.

_**~X~**_

Smoker, a white-haired Marine captain, with a bit of a distaste for wearing shirts under his marine jacket and an overwhelming need to smoke two cigars at once, reached the group of marines within the shooting distance of the execution stand. Tashigi, his right-hand subordinate was right behind him. What he didn't expect was to see the fellow captain, Enji, there as well accompanied by a small pink-haired boy Smoker didn't recognize.

"What are you doing here?" Smoker asked, not entirely pleased with seeing Enji there. "Certainly not to drop off pirates, you never leave any alive."

"I heard you had some trouble here so I figured I'd stop by," Enji casually explained. "And I wanted Koby to see an operation on land," he motioned at the timid boy.

Koby quickly bowed. "Sorry for the inconvenience, captain Smoker," he said.

"Don't interfere unless I tell you to," Smoker ordered and moved to the window where his subordinates were. "What's the status?"

"Captain Smoker and sergeant major Tashigi!" one of the marines greeted them.

"They've rounded up the civilians to watch, there are currently 2 people with bounties in the town square," the other explained. "Buggy the Clown and Straw Hat Luffy."

"Hm? Luffy? That's a name I've never heard of," Smoker said, perhaps he missed it somehow.

"His bounty just came out the other day but it's a real big one at 30 million."

"30 million?" Smoker repeated, honestly surprised at the number, especially considering it was in East Blue. "He should be quite the tough one then."

"Well… he's actually the one about to be killed."

That worked fine with Smoker, once the pirates killed one another they'd just deal with what's left.

_**~X~**_

Vergil rushed past the civilians, not caring for a moment about who he had to go through, his captain, his Nakama was about to be executed by Buggy of all people and he wasn't going to let that happen.

"For the crime of angering me, I sentence you, Monkey D. Luffy, to a flashy execution!" Buggy declared for everyone to hear.

"Like hell!" Vergil yelled, his eyes flashing from yellow to red.

"Huh? Vergil? Hey, look here! This is the first time I've seen an execution," Luffy, oblivious to his situation, said without a care in the world.

"You're the one who's being executed here!" Buggy screamed at him.

"What?! Are you kidding me?!" the realization hit Luffy and panic set in. "Vergil! Help me out here!"

Vergil created two orbs of lightning. "That goes without a question!" he launched the lightning orbs towards Buggy.

Buggy smirked at that. "I didn't forget about you. Payac!" Buggy called for his crewmate.

The ground rose up in front of the execution stand, protecting Buggy from the lightning, on top of it Payac stood, already in his Half-awakened state.

"Out of my way!" Vergil felt anger rising within his heart, he didn't have time to deal with the devil. "You oversized _**clown**_!" the last word was disembodied as his sclera turned completely red and the black thin lines began spreading down his forearms.

"_**I don't think so,**_" Payac lifted his hands, all four of them and the ground underneath Vergil erupted into spikes.

Vergil jumped up, dodging the spikes as people began running away from the battle. He discharged a large amount of lightning, shattering any spikes that came close to him.

Payac lunged at Vergil and the two devils collided their fists in mid-air.

"Well, that's taken care of. Any last words? Might as well make the most out of this large crowd while it's still here," Buggy offered Luffy at least that much.

And Luffy had only one thing to say. "I'm the man who'll become the Pirate King!" he declared as loudly as he could, letting everyone hear him. There, in the town Roger was born in, the town he died in, at the very same execution stand Roger died on Luffy declared his dream.

Buggy raised his sword above his head, ready to swing it. "Is that all you have to say… you rubber brat?!"

Luffy closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.

"Wait!" Zoro and Sanji yelled, joining in the battle.

"Sanji! Zoro!" Luffy's hope for rescue was renewed as he saw them.

"So you've come, Zoro? But it seems you're too late!" Buggy was certain they wouldn't be able to reach the execution stand in time. And Payac was bound to keep the devil busy just a bit longer.

Vergil slammed Payac down to the ground, but the devil lowered the ground underneath Vergil's left foot. With Vergil's footing slightly off-balance Payac removed a giant boulder from the ground and slammed it into Vergil.

Lightning burst out and Vergil shattered it, only to feel a single pebble hit the side of his neck. He dropped to his knees, Half-awakened state gone.

"Gyahahaha! Just watch carefully from there! Witness the last moments of your captain!" Buggy yelled, enjoying every moment of this.

"Bastard!" Sanji tried to fight through the pirates but he was still too far away. '_If I can just kick down that execution stand…!'_

Zoro had very similar thoughts as he tried to get closer, but there was little to nothing he could do with only a few seconds left.

Blade approached Luffy's neck.

"Vergil! Zoro! Sanji! Usopp! Nami! Sorry, but it looks like I'm dead," Luffy grinned, accepting death, he was completely calm.

"Wha…" Zoro's eyes widened.

"Don't say that, you idiot!" Sanji screamed.

In Thanatos Perun was engulfed in so much red energy the tube containing it shattered. It began changing shape, extending, and losing the regular shape of a shashka.

Vergil let out a blood-chilling disembodied sound those around him could only describe as a roar. Completely engulfed in red energy he vanished, he appeared next to Luffy, his right arm between the sword and Luffy's neck. A burst of lightning coming from his body shattered the execution stand to tiny pieces and blasted Buggy to the other side of the town square.

Just as the red energy appeared it vanished, the only thing Luffy managed to see was a bit of red skin when the hand erupted from the energy to block the sword. He and Vergil landed on the ground and Vergil panted, shaking slightly. For a moment Luffy feared it was happening again, that he would need to squeeze Vergil's neck.

"Damn you, Buggy," nothing was wrong, Vergil was just really angry and Luffy had to grin at that.

"Shishishi! Thanks, Vergil!" he laughed, really happy to be alive.

"Enough talking, let's leave this town already," Zoro and Sanji joined them just as the rain began falling.

"Marines?" Luffy noticed they surrounded them. Grinning wide, he began running. "Run for it!"

"Straight ahead, back to the ship!" Vergil yelled, there was nothing he'd rather do than kill Buggy and Payac right then and there, but captain's orders were absolute. Never mind, he'd kill the damn clowns one day and he'd do his best to enjoy it even more than Buggy enjoyed Luffy's attempted execution.

As the four men ran towards their ship the rain kept getting stronger and stronger. The weather, in general, was getting worse and the marines kept pursuing them no matter how far they ran.

"The wind's getting worse," Zoro commented, as it was it could make things difficult once they were at the sea.

"Geez, these guys are so persistent. Should we just stop and fight them off?" Luffy suggested, focusing on something more immediate instead.

"Don't, there'll be no end to them. More importantly, Nami-san told us to return to the ship as fast as possible," Sanji said.

"Roronoa Zoro!" a black-haired girl stood in their path and somehow she knew Zoro.

"Sergeant Major Tashigi!" marines behind them recognized her.

"To think that you were Roronoa Zoro! And a pirate at that, too! You were just toying with me all along!" she yelled, accusing Zoro.

"You bastard! What did you do to that lady?!" Sanji yelled at Zoro.

Vergil and Luffy were just confused, having no idea who this girl was.

"Never thought you were a marine…" Zoro commented more to himself than anyone else.

"I shall take back that Wado Ichimonji!" Tashigi declared causing Zoro to smirk as they took out their swords.

"Just try it," Zoro challenged her and clashed his katana with hers. "Go on ahead," he told the rest of them.

"OK," Luffy replied and grabbed Sanji.

"That brute dares harm a lady?!" Sanji was ready to step between Zoro and Tashigi.

"What?! So he should just let her kill him?!" Vergil yelled at the cook.

"If it means not hurting a lady then yes!" Sanji snapped back.

"She is an enemy first, a lady second!" Vergil argued, so what if it was a woman, the enemy was enemy, end of the story.

"It's the opposite, shitty devil!" Sanji was just as frustrated, feeling like he was dealing with not one, but two complete brutes.

"Let's go!" Luffy's yell snapped them out of it and they reluctantly continued running.

Vergil's eyes widened suddenly, there was no mistaking it, a devil was following them. "Go on, I'll catch up," he stopped, and just like with Zoro, Luffy just kept going.

"Black Thunder, Leonidas Vergil. Correct?" the voice came from above.

Vergil looked up, the devil wearing Marine uniform was landed in front of him from one of the roofs.

"What's wrong? You don't feel like talking? Sorry, where are my manners, my name is Enji," the devil smirked.

"You reek of blood; what did you do to Buggy's crew?" Vergil narrowed his eyes, watching every move his potential enemy made.

Enji laughed as if he found the question funny. "Don't tell me you'd feel sorry if I killed them? I did, well, half of them before Smoker stopped me. Pirates shouldn't be allowed to live and the same goes for the Warriors of Volos," the easy-going look on his face vanished. "You're both, **Devil Arm: Flame Guardian**," a halberd with an ax shaped somewhat like a flame appeared in a burst of flames.

Vergil smirked, a devil with fire as primary soul power was challenging him, one with lightning, during a storm. "That's big talk for someone that allowed an entire island to be enslaved by pirates," he pointed out, letting a few small bursts of electricity out. If Enji attacked, he'd be ready.

"Arlong pirates? It wasn't worth losing every subordinate I have," he just casually admitted.

Vergil scoffed at that, he had no idea what he expected to hear, but this rubbed him the wrong way. "It's a stormy night; you better not regret this," he charged straight at Enji, his right fist engulfed in lightning.

Enji lifted his body off the ground and glided to the side, dodging Vergil's first punch. Vergil smirked, discharging electricity around him, with the water all around them the electricity grew stronger forcing the marine to fly up, further away from Vergil.

"You're not the only one powered up by this weather," Enji gathered the wind around his body and began spinning around. "**Windmill**!"

It looked like a spinning torpedo armed with a halberd was heading right for Vergil, he would either get hit by Enji's body and get cut by wind or move to the side and get cut by a halberd.

"**Zone Of Protection**," Vergil concentrated lightning around his body and then slammed his fists together, forming additional electricity. He moved his left fist to his right shoulder, thus engulfing his right arm in additional electricity. Just as Enji was approaching Vergil jumped to his left and grabbed the Halberd's pole. Wind and lightning exploded around the two as they collided into the nearby building. "Burn! Fire devil!" Vergil charged all the remaining electricity through the halberd and right into Enji's rain-soaked body.

Enji grunted, feeling the electricity burning him from inside and from the outside. "As you wish," he hissed, his sclera turning yellow. "_**I'll burn**_," his voice became disembodied as Vergil jumped away, his electricity gone for the moment.

Despite the rain, Enji did burn, in fact, drops of rain evaporated the moment they came in contact with the devil. His arms up to the elbows turned into flames, with every breath a small flame came out of his mouth and there were three spikes coming from his back, two just beneath his shoulders pointing to the ground and the middle one pointing up and coming from the middle of his back.

Enji lunged forward, much faster than he was mere moments ago. He prepared to swing his halberd and just as he reached Vergil the lightning devil managed to drop to the ground and roll forward, just narrowly dodging the halberd. Using wind Enji spun around and slashed again forcing Vergil to jump forward, temporarily turning his back to Enji.

The marine didn't stop attacking, he continued swinging his halberd, each time missing by less and less until he backed Vergil into a wall.

Vergil ducked under the blade and merged lightning with darkness just for an instant. "**Hazard Upper Flash**!" he slammed his electrified fist into Enji's chest, pushing the powered up devil far enough to get some space.

"Vergil we need to leave, now!" Zoro's yell got both Vergil's and Enji's attention and just as Zoro said that almost as in miraculously an incredibly powerful wind blew two pirates far from Enji, who barely managed to hold on using his power.

"That actually worked out in our favor," Vergil sweatdropped as he noticed Luffy and Sanji also carried by the wind.

"Luffy! Run for it or we'll be trapped on this island! A huge-ass storm's coming in!" Zoro yelled and grabbed Luffy.

"Come on! We need to run!" Vergil yelled, no matter what, they needed to get away from this island!

_**~X~**_

Nami was getting worried, she had no idea what was going on with her Nakama, the rope they were using to keep Merry close to shore was about to snap and the storm was getting worse with every passing second.

"Luffy!" Usopp finally noticed their captain and Nami felt like she could cry from happiness, finally, they were there. "Hurry up! This rope won't hold for much longer!"

"Look at all this rain!" and Luffy was, of course, completely oblivious to how serious the situation was.

"Nami-san, I'm back!" Sanji greeted her happily.

"What took you so long?!" she snapped at them, not really having any patience left. "Hurry up and get on board! We're setting sail immediately!"

_**~X~**_

Enji gritted his teeth, looking at his Devil Arm, he failed. "Smoker, you're going after them?" he asked when he saw his fellow captain along with Tashigi.

"What's it to you?" Smoker questioned.

"My men and I will join you, under your command, as long as you let me handle Leonidas," he'd be fine with anything, just as long as he could go after that devil. How dare he bring shame to Galina's family?

"You are going to capture, not kill unless you have to, as long as you're under my orders," Smoker made it clear what he wanted.

Enji narrowed his eyes but nodded. "Yes, sir."

_**~X~**_

The Straw Hat pirates were sailing through the storm, approaching a lighthouse.

"Yahoo! The ship feels like it'll flip right over!" of course, the one that could find their current predicament enjoyable was Luffy.

"It's a good storm!" Vergil enjoyed it as well, but for a different reason, this stormy night was perfect for him.

"You see that light over there?" Nami pointed towards the lighthouse.

"You mean that lighthouse?" Usopp asked.

"It's known as the Light of guidance," she explained with a small smile on her face. "The entrance to the Grand Line is just up ahead of that light," Nami turned to her captain. "So, what shall we do?"

Luffy didn't even need to answer that, but Sanji had another idea as he brought out a barrel.

"D-Don't you guys think that entering Grand Line in the midst of this storm is a bit," Usopp was the only one shaking with fear, but no one was really paying attention to his worries. "Guys?!"

"So we've reached Grand Line, have we?" Sanji set down the barrel in the middle of the deck. "Well, this calls for a celebration!" he lifted his foot and placed it on the barrel. "To find All Blue!"

Luffy followed. "To become the Pirate Kind!"

Vergil joined in. "To go to Praevalitana!"

Zoro was the next. "To be the greatest swordsman!"

Nami followed their example. "To draw a map of the world!"

Usopp was the only one remaining and he, though still afraid, joined his Nakama. "T-To become a brave warrior of the seas!"

They all raised their feet and slammed them down onto the barrel again. "Let's go to the Grand Line!" they all yelled as one.

* * *

_**Loguetown – Completed**_

* * *

_**East Blue Saga – Completed**_

* * *

_**It didn't take me a year to update again? Who would have guessed it? Well, that's one saga down, also, that's roughly one-tenth of the current manga covered. **_

* * *

_**Answers on reviews:**_

_**Big thank you for Drago pirate, Guest, Sagicknight, and Guest for reviewing and giving me a warm welcome after a year of absence.**_


	18. Promise of a battle

_**Saga 2 – Alabasta**_

* * *

_**Arc 7 – Reverse Mountain**_

* * *

_**Chapter 18 – Promise of a battle**_

* * *

The storm kept raging on as the crew sailed towards the Grand Line. Yet, despite all that Luffy was hanging upside down from Merry's figurehead.

"Nami, this is bad! The light just went out!" Luffy yelled. Maybe it was meant to went out, maybe the storm had something to do with it, regardless, it was no longer guiding them. "And that was out guiding light too!" he added, though a bit calmer this time. "What do we do now?"

Nami was standing on the left side of the figurehead. Unlike her captain and the first mate sitting on the railing on the other side of the figurehead, she was wearing a raincoat. "Well, it is only a lighthouse. It can go out from time to time. Besides, it's for times like these you have a navigator, you know? So don't worry, I know the basic direction at least," she assured him.

Luffy grabbed onto the figurehead and just casually hung from it, right above the ocean. "Wow! You're amazing."

A small vein popped on Nami's forehead. "More importantly, can you please get off from there?!" the last thing they needed was their captain slipping.

"No, this is my special spot! You can't have it!" Luffy exclaimed.

"When did I say I wanted it?!" Nami yelled at him, of all the ways he could interpret her words it had to be the one furthest from the truth.

"Shishishi! I won't fall," he turned his head to his silent first mate. "Right, Vergil?"

Vergil smirked. "Of course you won't."

Nami sighed, of course, if Luffy even began slipping Vergil would catch him immediately. "Right, forgot about you," she turned back to look at the map. "But this is rather troubling, at this rate it'll be exactly as the rumors say."

"What's wrong?" Vergil asked, turning most of his attention to Nami.

"Let's go inside, I need to explain something," she already turned around.

"Right," Luffy jumped off his seat.

"Wait, Nami," Vergil called after her, he wasn't budging an inch from his spot. "With this kind of storm, we need to keep watch over the course. I can still see the lighthouse, I'll stay here," he explained, pointing in the direction the light was coming from before.

"How? It's completely dark?" Nami questioned, for a moment forgetting she was dealing with a devil.

"Vergil's a darkness devil," Luffy answered instead of Vergil and the first mate just nodded.

"What? So you can see in the dark?" Nami tilted her head slightly to the side, finding that logic near impossible.

"Yeah!" both pirates answered in the same moment.

"Fine, just keep watching it, I'll explain it to you afterward," Nami was still a bit skeptical, but she accepted it; it was a devil power after all.

Vergil turned around, watching the lighthouse. It didn't take long, but the wind was slowly stirring them off the course. "Turn the ship 6 degrees to the starboard!" he yelled, loud enough for the crew to hear him in the kitchen. "Again to the starboard! 4 degrees!" he yelled again, barely a couple of minutes later.

"Good job, darkness devil," Nami walked out and patted him on the back, the crew was with her and now they were so close to the lighthouse they could all see it.

"So? What's the trouble?" Vergil grinned at her.

Luffy jumped onto his special seat. "There's a mystery mountain we need to climb?"

Vergil nodded. "Water's going upwards?" he asked.

"Don't tell me you believe that?" Zoro questioned, still not believing the fact that they are going to climb a mountain with a ship.

"Yeah, Thanatos has a place where the water is flowing upwards. It's not exactly like this though," Vergil explained.

"It's because of strong currents, right?" Nami inquired causing Vergil to nod. "So that's it. If strong currents from each of the four seas were to all head towards that mountain, then they would drive the water up the waterway. And at the very top, the currents will merge and come out to the Grand Line! Since we're already riding the currents all we have to worry about is steering properly," Nami felt a bit nervous, with the narrow waterway they would need to be extremely precise. "Reverse mountain is a winter island, so the currents that hit its edge will travel down to the bottom of the see. So if we fail to enter the waterway, we'll crash and get dragged down to the bottom of the sea. Got it?"

"So basically, you're saying that it's a mystery mountain, right?" Luffy deduced, looking all proud he got it.

"I shouldn't have expected you to understand," Nami sighed. She glanced at Vergil, hoping the first mate would do his magic and explain it to Luffy.

"Nami-san! You're amazing!" Sanji praised her with heart in his eye.

Vergil, however, didn't do anything, he didn't translate her explanation.

"Never heard of a ship going up a mountain before," Zoro was still a bit skeptical.

"I've heard a bit," Sanji replied, with a slight smirk on his face.

"About the mountain?" Zoro guessed, looking at the cook.

"No, but I've heard things about Grand Line. Supposedly, half of the people die just trying to go in. Entering it is no easy task," Sanji explained, on the other hand, Krieg did it, so maybe it wasn't that difficult.

_**~X~**_

"I see the mystery mountain!" Luffy exclaimed, his jaw dropped slightly at the sight in front of him.

"It's huge!" Usopp was even more shocked at the sheer size of it.

Luffy grinned, more excited than ever. "So that's the Red Line? I can't even see the top because of the clouds!" just a bit longer and they'd be there, they'd reach Grand Line! "Get a good grip of the rudder so we don't get dragged down under!" he ordered.

Vergil smiled, Luffy may have called it mystery mountain, but he understood the most important thing.

"Just leave it to us!" Usopp and Sanji assured their captain, they firmly grasped the rudder, ready to steer the ship right to the waterway.

"Amazing," Nami marveled at the sight in front of her.

"I can't believe it, the ocean is really going up a mountain," Zoro had to accept it now. Now that he saw this he was willing to accept that anything was possible.

"It's the entrance to the waterway!" Luffy yelled.

"Turn a bit starboard!" Vergil yelled and Usopp and Sanji did, only they miscalculated how strong the rudder was.

It snapped right in half. Luffy's eyes bulged out and the rest of the crew wasn't doing much better. They were going to crash into one of the pillars with the way they were going.

Luffy wasn't having any of that, he jumped between the Going Merry and the mountain. "**Gomu Gomu no Balloon**!" he inflated his body, using it to stop Merry and push her back in the right direction.

"We're saved!" Nami cheered.

"Luffy! Grab onto my hand!" Zoro held his hand out, and Luffy grabbed it. With their captain back on board they could celebrate, they were safe and entering the Grand Line!

"WE DID IT!" the entire crew cheered as they reached the top and began going down the mountain.

"Now all we have to do is go down!" Luffy jumped to Merry's figurehead, there was no other place he'd rather be in this exact moment. "I can see the Grand Line up ahead! So this is Grand Line, the greatest sea in the world!" indeed, from where they were Luffy could see endless ocean ahead of them. "Full speed ahead!"

But as they began getting closer to the open sea they began hearing strange sounds.

"Hm? Did you hear something just now?" Zoro asked, being one of the first who noticed.

"It sounded like someone crying out?" Vergil wasn't entirely sure, but he heard it loud and clear.

"Who cares! Yahoo!" well Luffy definitely didn't care.

"I wouldn't be surprised if that's just noise from the wind. The terrain here is quite odd after all," Nami, surprisingly, reassured them.

Usopp, who was up with Sanji on the sails, looked ahead through his goggles and noticed something, something large. "What's that…?"

"Nami-san! There's a mountain up ahead!" he pointed forward, he was seeing the same shape as Usopp.

"A mountain?! That can't be! Once we pass the Twin capes up ahead, we should reach the open sea," Nami replied, according to the map there wasn't supposed to be anything there.

"What is it then? A whale?!" Vergil yelled and then they got close enough to see it. "Damn it! It is a whale!" it was a huge dark whale with horrible scars on its head.

Immediately the crew went into the panicked solution-finding mode. "What do we do?!" Nami demanded.

"Should we fight?!" Luffy suggested.

"Blast a hole through it?!" Vergil was already charging lightning.

"Are you kidding?! How the hell are we supposed to fight something that big?!" Nami yelled at both of them, though she refrained from punching them.

"But it's blocking our way!" Luffy argued and then, looking at Vergil's charged lightning got an idea. "That's right!" he ran into the storage.

Vergil lowered the electricity and ran after Luffy. Knowing the captain, it was safer to make sure the idea might actually work. "Hey, what's the plan?" he asked as he saw Luffy putting a cannonball in the cannon. The realization hit him immediately and he nodded. "We don't really have any better options."

"Shishishi, right!" Luffy looked around for matchsticks only for Vergil to lit the fuse with a spark. "Great!"

The cannon fired and the two pirates stood relatively proudly behind the cannon.

"Good! I wonder if the ship stopped now?" Luffy was especially proud, and well, the ship didn't shatter due to an impact so they were safe, probably.

"I'll go see if anyone's hurt," Vergil stepped out only to be crushed under the weight of Merry's figurehead.

"Aaah! My special seat!" Luffy screamed and then saw Vergil under it. "Aah! Vergil!"

Vergil just began tapping his finger against the wood. "You really don't like me, huh Merry?" he muttered into the boards. Yet, somehow, it was as if he heard a small voice telling him otherwise. The figurehead probably hit his head a bit harder than he thought.

The whale's cries made him cover his ears, it was too loud, it felt like someone was screaming right into his ear. Slowly, he managed to get back to his feet and climbed back to the deck where Luffy stood.

"How dare… you destroy," he pulled back his fist, ready for a quite a strong punch. "My special seat! And flatten my first mate!" he punched the whale directly in the eye much to the horror of four of his human Nakama.

Vergil sweatdropped. "I'm not flattened though."

The whale paused for a moment and then its eye focused on their ship.

"It saw us!" Nami, Usopp, Zoro, and Sanji screamed.

"Come at me, you bastard!" Luffy challenged it, ready to fight the whale that was thousands of times bigger than him.

Zoro and Usopp hit him in the back of the head. "Just shut the hell up already!" their survival instinct was kicking in completely and it was clear Luffy's actions were the biggest threat here.

The whale suddenly opened its mouth and Merry was being sucked in. The crew screamed, there was no escaping this with the way water was just flowing into its mouth. They did have a bit of luck though, seeing as they didn't crash into one of the whale's teeth.

Luffy fell off-board and Vergil jumped after him, with the water the way it was he wasn't leaving it to chance. He grabbed Luffy's shirt just as the rubbed boy stretched his arm and grabbed onto one of the teeth. "I ain't gonna die here!" Luffy yelled and Vergil used electricity to propel them both high enough to grab onto the whale's scars.

The two climbed to the top and sat don, huffing a bit after what just happened. Their hearts were racing as if they just ran a marathon.

"What do we do now? Everyone was swallowed up," Luffy's eyes widened, he was sweating, the possibility of losing his Nakama dawning upon him. He jumped to his feet and began punching the whale. "Hey, you! Give me my Nakama back! Cough them up!" he demanded while the whale began sinking.

Vergil was flabbergasted. "Luffy," he pulled the younger boy's shirt to get his attention. "There's a door," he motioned towards the doors on top of the whale.

"Huh?" Luffy was just as confused but they didn't exactly have time to wonder about that, they opened the doors and jumped in, only to find themselves in a hallway, complete with lights.

"What the fuck?" Vergil looked around, baffled at the reality he was in.

"Just what is all this? Why's there a door in a whale…? And now a hallway, too…" Luffy had no idea how to react to this.

"There's even electricity," Vergil pulled on one the lever and the lights went off, he pushed it back up and the lights turned on again. "How do you even carve something into a living being?! I don't care how big it is it has to hurt!" if humans felt needles piercing their skin then there was no way the whale didn't feel a hallway complete with electricity being constructed within it. "So let me ask again, what the fuck is going on here?"

Vergil was definitely not getting answers from Luffy, in fact, the rubber man just began walking. "Let's see where this takes us," he took the lead.

_**~X~**_

The hallway seemed endless, so narrow and long. It was absolutely man-made, the wooden construction and steel made it more than obvious that was the case. If it wasn't like that and they were moving through flesh Vergil would have expected some monster to pop out of nowhere, like some gigantic centipede willing to bite them "Don't tell me we need to get to the heart and kill it to save the others," Vergil said, his voice echoing through the empty hallway.

Luffy shrugged, not really getting what Vergil was saying.

As if the whale heard Vergil's words it suddenly began moving, making the two pirates lose their balance and begin tumbling down the hallway.

"Wha?! What's going on?!" Luffy shouted, feeling no pain due to his rubber body.

Vergil, on the other hand, was feeling every impact. "I swear I wasn't serious about killing it," he grumbled, trying to find some way to soften the impact. "Enough!" he yelled, electrifying his forearm and slamming it against metal. He grabbed onto Luffy and began sliding down the hallway. "Electromagnet, it comes in handy every now and then."

Luffy grinned as he touched the electricity, it didn't harm him, but he did feel a tingly sensation and a bit of warmth.

Vergil smiled slightly before he weakened the electricity enough to slide down the wall.

"A dead end?" Luffy pointed towards the end of the hallway. Although it wasn't a dead-end, it was another tunnel, though this time it looked like two paths separated by a river… inside a whale…

The whale seemingly chose that moment to abruptly move in a way that jerked Vergil away from the steel and the two pirates began falling down the tunnel.

"At least we aren't tumbling around this time," Vergil found a bit of comfort in that. No matter what happened they would survive. Two people ahead of them caught Vergil's attention, it was a blue-haired girl, looking like she was around Nami's age and a male wearing a crown. "Who are those guys?" Vergil wondered.

"Hmm?" Luffy noticed them as well. "No idea, but we'll crash into them."

"Yeah, we will, and then likely go through that door," Vergil just decided to go with the flow at this point. Things would eventually work out.

They collided with the two strangers and went straight through the door. The narrow tunnel turned into a wide area with clouds and sky and green sea and Vergil couldn't be more confused even if he tried.

"Luffy?! Vergil?!" Zoro's yell got both of their attention.

"Hey!" Vergil grinned, happy to see the crew alive and well.

"Guys! You're alright!" Luffy cheered.

Vergil grabbed onto his rubber captain and threw him towards Zoro. "Hey, Zoro, catch!" he could have just used lightning to get them both to the ship but his brain was just done with this entire thing and it wasn't working properly. He landed in the water with the two strangers, it was green and kind of warm and filled with remains of ships and some rotten things the whale swallowed. Vergil emerged to the surface, taking a deep breath. "I need to check something out! I'll be there soon!" he yelled and dove back in. One of the ships had the old flag Volos used, there was no mistaking that. He swam down and pulled a bit of rotten wood out of the way to enter the cabin. Most of the things were already useless but the chest, stuck underneath the mast seemed fairly fine.

He formed a ball of lightning and used it to shatter the mast. Another one broke the lock and he opened the chest. His eyes widened when he saw the content in it. Most of it was broken, but there was a bunch of vials, safely tucked in a see-through box. Vergil picked them up and rummaged through the chest for anything else. He didn't have much time left, a bit more and he'd need to go up for air and he really didn't want to spend more time in the acid. There was nothing else, only broken weapons and some other items he couldn't use. He left the cabin and used lightning to propel himself up to the surface. The air, though a bit acidic and stale was wonderful.

"Vergil! What happened? What did you find?" Nami questioned from aboard the ship.

"I'll tell you later! Once we're out of here!" Vergil was about to start swimming towards the ship when some strange old man began shouting.

"I won't let you lay even a single finger on Laboon, for as long as I live!" he yelled as loudly as he could, it looked like he knew the two strangers Luffy and Vergil crashed into earlier.

And the two strangers took weapons similar to bazookas in their hands. Vergil couldn't hear what they were saying, but they were aiming their weapons at the whale's stomach. A vein popped on Vergil's as they fired their cannonballs and Vergil blasted them into smithereens with lightning. He jumped from the water and shot lightning out of his feet to get on board of Merry.

"Drop the weapons before I electrify you," Vergil smirked at the two, he had it with this place, all the tumbling and acid and ridiculous circumstances they were all in. And now these two wanted to provoke the whale again, like hell if he was letting that happen.

Luffy, either for the same or completely different reason slammed their heads together, knocking them out. "I'm not sure what's going on, but I'll knock these guys out for now!"

_**~X~**_

Quite frankly Zoro was baffled as he looked at Vergil. The devil was really irritated, it really looked like he would snap at the smallest provocation. He couldn't explain it and he had never seen Vergil act like this.

Crocus climbed back on his island-shaped boat, he was looking at Luffy and Vergil, as if searching for something.

"You have my thanks," Crocus said and sat down on his chair.

"I didn't do it for you," Luffy replied honestly.

"Forget it, just let us out of here," and there it was again, Vergil being adamant on leaving.

"The exit is over there," Usopp pointed out and Vergil seemed just about ready to go and get the ship moving if it wasn't for Nami pulling him back by his shirt he probably would have done exactly that. And his shirt was still soaked with acid, normally he'd already dry it with lightning, yet he wasn't doing it.

"Wait for a bit, alright?" Nami asked him and when he huffed she narrowed her eyes slightly. "Come on, Vergil, we've been in here at least a bit longer than you, just sit down," she pretty much ordered him.

Vergil looked to the side, took a deep breath, and sat down. He was sitting with his arms crossed, back slightly hunched forward and even his legs were crossed, his entire body seemed tense while the rest of the crew joined Crocus on the other boat.

Luffy just climbed onto the tree and stretched his arm to grab onto Vergil's shirt. He pulled, but the first mate wasn't budging and from where he was Zoro could see Vergil was actively resisting Luffy's pulling.

Nami sighed, choosing to ignore the two for the time being. "So, what's going on here?" she asked Crocus.

"This whale is an island whale, found normally in West Blue. It's the largest species of whale in the world. This one's name is Laboon. And these two are rogues from a nearby town, their goal is to hunt Laboon because the meat from Laboon can feed their town for 2 to 3 years. But I won't allow that!" Crocus explained one part of the story, but it hardly explained all the bashing Laboon did earlier. "As for why Laboon keeps bashing his head against the Red Line and bellows while facing Reverse Mountain, there's a reason for all that. Long ago, while I was minding my business as a lighthouse keeper, a certain group of friendly pirates came down Reverse Mountain, and following their ship was a little baby whale, that whale was Laboon."

By now everyone was carefully listening, even Vergil turned around and sat, in the exact same position, on the railing and listened.

"It seems that Laboon had accompanied their journey in West Blue, but fearing that Grand Line was too dangerous they left him behind or so they thought. Normally, island whales are known to swim together in pods, but to Laboon, those pirates were his pod members. Their ship was damaged when they arrived so they stayed here for several months to fix it. I became quite good friends with them during their stay. And so, on the day of their departure, their captain asked me: 'Could you please take care of Laboon for 2 to 3 years? Once we've sailed around the world we'll come back for him no matter what.' Understanding their intent Laboon patiently waited for them here," so that was the story and it made sense now why the whale was there.

"So that's why he keeps bellowing even today and bashing himself against Red Line," Nami said.

"That's right, it's been over 50 years since then," Crocus said much to everyone's surprise. "He still believes his friends will come back."

Vergil jumped to his feet. "Alright, I'm going to deal with this," he said raised the box filled with vials and left for their bedroom.

_**~X~**_

Vergil sighed as he climbed into his hammock, this was driving him insane. The stale air of closed space, the feeling of being trapped with no exit. He hated it, he was afraid of it, he couldn't go back to that place, he couldn't let those memories in again. The nightmare from ten years ago. "I'm fine, we'll leave soon," he whispered into his chin, similar to how he so often did a year after he managed to escape.

The trapdoor opened and Luffy jumped in, grinning from ear to ear. "We'll be out soon," he said and Vergil felt at ease.

"Thank you, for not pushing others into leaving," Vergil said, the smallest smile appeared on his face.

Luffy's grin widened. "What's that?" he asked, pointing at the now open box.

Vergil took one of the vials out. "Some things from my world, I need to get rid of it. I don't think anything is going to happen, but just to be safe," he focused completely on the liquids within the vials, immediately recognizing each and every one. There were Soul Breakers and Triggers, as well as a couple of random poisons. "I'll come out once I'm done," he assured Luffy and formed a small **Zone Of Protection** around the box.

"Sure," Luffy stretched his arms up and left.

Vergil's smile never left his face. He couldn't hide anything from his captain, no matter how many times it happened Vergil couldn't help but be impressed by Luffy's ability to read him like an open book. Sure, the year they spent together allowed Luffy to get to know him, they went through some quite interesting times together, but Luffy still impressed him from time to time.

Carefully he guided electricity into each vial and focused on making the liquid slowly start boiling. Most of these were sensitive to high heat and as such, once they were properly boiled they'd be harmless to just blast into smithereens. Still, he was in for a long half an hour.

_**~X~**_

Half an hour barely passed and Vergil just managed to dispose of all the liquids when he heard the sound of wood breaking. His eyes widened and he quickly went outside, only to see Luffy running up Laboon's back with the mast in his hands. Their main mast.

Vergil's eye twitched and he was about ready to take back every thought of Luffy actually having a brain that could think even five minutes ahead. "Just tell me why," he sighed, shaking his head as Luffy stuck the mast into Laboon's open wound. "Oh, so that's why. Yeah, perfectly reasonable," he took a deep breath, then another one, and that seemed to calm him down considerably.

Laboon began bellowing again, thrashing around with his mouth open and Merry was dangerously close to being swallowed again.

"Luffy! If the ship gets swallowed again I'm killing something! So take the fight somewhere else!" Vergil threatened as loudly as he could. Though just to make sure he doesn't get swallowed along with the half-destroyed ship he jumped off to the shore where the rest of the crew was.

Laboon slammed his head into the ground, trying to shake Luffy off, but that only aggravated the wound even further and he bellowed again at the skies.

"Hehe, you big dummy!" Luffy taunted him and as Laboon charged at Luffy he pulled his fist back and punched the whale in his eye.

Still, as formidable as Luffy was, he wasn't exactly a match for something that was that big.

"What is he trying to do?" Usopp wondered as Vergil finally joined them at the lighthouse. The same lighthouse Laboon's hit just sent Luffy into.

"Luffy! Just what the hell are you doing?!" Zoro demanded an explanation as Laboon charged again.

"It's a draw!" Luffy suddenly exclaimed, making Laboon halt. "I'm pretty strong, eh?" Luffy said with a battle-excited grin on his face. "Our fight has yet to be settled, so we must fight each other again!"

Vergil smiled, shaking his head, it made sense now. He was still annoyed, but it made sense now.

"Your old friends may be dead, but I'm your new rival!" Luffy declared and Laboon's eyes filled with tears. "And once my crew sails around Grand Line, we'll be sure to come back here to see you again. And then we'll fight again!" it was a promise and as Laboon bellowed again, this time in happiness, no one could suppress a smile.

_**~X~**_

Vergil stretched his arms up, half an hour of constantly making lightning took a bit out of him. "I'll go take a nap," he said, as far as he was concerned they'd soon set sail and he should be at his full strength just in case.

"What about food? I'm going to prepare elephant tuna I bought back in Loguetown," Sanji told him.

"I'm a devil, I don't really need to eat much and my sense of taste is weaker than that of humans so it really doesn't do much for me," he couldn't do anything about it, even though he was a cambion his senses were that of a devil. Slightly better sight and hearing with the slightly weaker smell and much weaker taste.

Sanji smirked a bit. "Don't regret it later, it's really good," he said and then motioned towards Luffy. "I'd leave you a bit, but you know how our captain is."

Vergil chuckled at that. "You better try to make sure someone besides Luffy gets to try it."

"Don't worry about it, I'll make sure Nami-san eats it," of course, as much as Sanji wanted to make it happen, it didn't. Nami never got to try the fish he prepared.

_**~X~**_

An hour or so later Vergil climbed out of the bedroom, awoken by the sound of the crew getting ready to depart.

"You sure about this, kid? Picking Whisky Peak all just because of these ruffians," Crocus' words confused him for a moment and then he saw the two people that tried to kill Laboon on board. "The only place you can choose which route you want to take is here, you know."

"We're giving them a ride?" Vergil asked Usopp.

Usopp sighed but nodded, his hands raised as if to indicate he gave up. "Luffy's whim, nothing we can do about that."

"It's fine, if I don't like the route I can always sail once around and choose a different route," Luffy replied, not in any way worried by their future, wherever they went he was more or less fine with it.

"I see," Crocus smiled as if seeing something in Luffy.

The two attempted whale killers laughed at Luffy, though they did try to conceal it.

"Mind sharing the joke? I'd kill for a good laugh," Vergil smirked at them, almost challenging them to say what was so funny.

"No, nothing!" the two quickly changed their tune.

"Bye then, flower gramps," Luffy said, they were ready to set sail and there was no need to stay there any longer.

"Thanks for the log pose!" Nami added.

"See ya, then," Crocus said his goodbye and Merry set said.

"We're going now, whale!" Luffy yelled to Laboon and the whale bellowed, it would wait for their return no matter what.

* * *

_**Reverse Mountain – completed**_

* * *

_**That's the first arc of Alabasta, I'm back here again, finally, after so long. I finally left the East Blue saga!**_

_**Vergil: She finally broke, don't mind her.**_

_**Although I have to say, this chapter was really tough to go through, I've done everything I can to either prevent scenes from happening, like the Calm Belt scene or just remove Vergil from the scene to avoid them. Don't get me wrong, I love Laboon and I love Reverse Mountain arc, however, it's not the arc I enjoy writing or reading as far as OC stories go. There's really nothing I can change, I can't stop the crew from meeting Crocus, I can't keep Luffy on board because that would mess with other things and make things drag out even more. I can add Vergil into Luffy VS Laboon if I'm feeling like making any difference at all and that's about it and I didn't want to do that. And of course, in the end, I went and pulled Zoro and had Vergil fall asleep while the plot was happening, only waking up to get summarized version before the crew left.**_

_**So if this chapter feels like it intentionally isolates Vergil from certain scenes, that's because it does. Luckily, I don't think I'll have to deal with any arcs similar to this one, because I can, for the most part, imagine what Vergil is doing in every future arc. **_

* * *

_**Answers on reviews:**_

_**Thank you to Guest for reviewing.**_

_**Drago pirate – Thank you for continued support. Praevalitana is an island Vergil's mother was born on, I should have clarified that, but, yeah, my bad.**_

_**KP360 – Oh boy, where to start. Meat explanations are definitely here to stay as a running gag. As for Galina, I'm not really going to say much, her character is yet to be explored so I'll leave that for the future. Enji, well, I can definitely agree with you but here's a thing, manga really didn't give Smoker all that much time either. I probably should have given him more time but that can be remedied in future arcs. As for Vergil and Nami, I'm glad you liked those moments, I do want to develop their relationship, but, at the same time, I don't want it to be the main focus.**_

_**V: Fun fact, she never read or watched BNHA.**_

_**I never really got into it, though I plan on doing that, so I went and googled Endeavor and yeah, that's an unintentional similarity.**_


	19. Pirate-loving town?

_**Arc 8 – Whisky Peak**_

* * *

_**Chapter 19 – Pirate-loving town?**_

* * *

It was freezing, even with all the clothes she was wearing Nami still trembled. She couldn't even begin to imagine how cold it would be if she was outside, dressed like Luffy and Usopp were right now. They didn't wear anything aside from their usual clothes and they were even playing in the snow. "Geez, how can those two be so lively when it's so cold outside?" she couldn't help but ask, though no one could answer her. Zoro was sleeping and Vergil was sitting on the railing, concentrating on the orbs of lightning surrounding him. Neither of the two was wearing anything warm either.

"Nami-san! How much longer shall I continue my snow shoveling of love?" Sanji-kun at least wore a scarf and gloves and he was the only one actually doing something productive.

"Until it stops snowing, Sanji-kun," she replied through the window, at least she could always rely on Sanji-kun in these situations.

"Yes! Nami-san!" he went back to shoveling.

"Hey, you. Doesn't this ship have a heating system or something?" one of their passengers, Mr. 9, actually dared to complain.

"It's really cold," and his partner added fuel to Nami's anger.

"Shut up! You're not here as our guests! Go outside and help shovel the snow or something!" Nami yelled at them.

A sudden crack of thunder made her forget about the two as she turned back around to look through the window. "Lightning? Just what's going on with the climate here?!" she couldn't wrap her head around it.

Vergil opened the door and stepped in. "Lightning is going to be really bad, I'll go up to the crow's nest and keep it from hitting Merry," he told her.

Nami nodded. "That's a good idea, I'll leave that to you," she didn't even look at him, she focused on the weather outside. "It was clear and warn just a second ago, it's exactly as Crocus-san said, the seasons and climate here on the Grand Line is beyond messed up!" all her knowledge about the weather was being put to test, her confidence wavering slightly. At least they were still on the right course and she hadn't failed as a navigator.

"It seems you're underestimating Grand Line quite a bit," Mr. 9 said, making Nami, if possible, just a bit more irritated.

"And you've left your rudder alone for a while now, you sure that's alright?" Miss Wednesday's question confused Nami.

"Awhile? But I just checked our directi-" she looked at the log pose. The ship turned around while she wasn't looking. "AHHHH!" she could only scream, one last thing she hoped she had under control was just proven to be out of her control.

"W-What is it?!" Usopp panicked at her scream.

"What's the matter my beloved Nami-san?!" Sanji asked.

Vergil, on the other hand, barged in, looking ready to kill the two that were in the kitchen with her.

"We didn't do anything!" the two quickly yelled as Nami ran past Vergil and went outside.

"This can't be happening!" she was just about ready to have a panic attack; if navigating the Grand Line was going to take constant attention and this was the weather she had to deal with she was starting to doubt herself. "Turn the ship around 180 degrees! Hurry!" she yelled at the crew.

"180 degrees? Why are we turning back?" Usopp asked.

"Did we forget something?" Luffy was just as oblivious to what was happening.

She couldn't blame them, but they needed to get to work, now. "No! The ship turned itself around and is now heading away from our destination! I only took my eyes off of the log pose for a second and the waves were so calm too…!"

Vergil put a hand on her shoulder. "Easy, take a deep breath and tell us what to do," his voice was calm and she could tell by the look in his eyes just how much faith he had in her.

"Looks like you've been played by the waves," Mr. 9 continued acting so smart.

"Are you really a navigator?" Miss Wednesday basically taunted her and it was working as Nami narrowed her eyes, ready to snap at the two. "That's the kind of ocean this is. The winds, skies, waves, and even the clouds, you can't trust any of them. The only thing you can trust out here is in the direction your log pose points to! Do you understand?"

Oh, she'd take those words to heart, which didn't mean the two weren't infuriating. And Nami took her anger out the only appropriate way at the moment. "Stop acting so high and mighty and start helping out!" she kicked them out, literary.

"Catch the wind coming from starboard! Turn the ship 180 degrees to port! Usopp, take the aft sail! Sanji-kun, take the helm! Vergil, watch out for any lightning and help Usopp with a sail!" she ordered, trying her best to regain control over the situation.

"Hey, wait! The wind just changed!" Usopp's exclamation threw a wrench into that plan.

"That can't be!" she was just about ready to cry when the skies cleared and a strong wind began blowing.

"Ah, the first breeze of spring," Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 jut took it in as if it was just a breeze.

"What?!" Nami screamed as Usopp tried to wake the snow-covered Zoro.

"Hey, I see a dolphin jumping over there! Let's go check it out!" Luffy was way too happy for Nami's liking.

"You just stay quiet!" she screamed.

"The waves are getting higher!" Usopp yelled and then noticed something even worse. "Iceberg spotted at 10 o'clock!"

"And now there's fog!" Sanji added, making things even more difficult than they already were.

"What is wrong with this ocean?!" Nami felt like she was on the brink of crying.

"We're heading for the iceberg!" Usopp screamed.

"Keep going! I'll deal with it!" Vergil ran to where Nami was. "Luffy, give me a boost!"

"Got it!" Luffy nodded and threw his arm back for Vergil to grab.

"Hey, Vergil, you aren't going to-" Nami's eyes widened as Luffy actually threw Vergil towards the iceberg and the white-haired devil used lightning to extend his flight.

Vergil's lightning turned black and he gathered a massive amount of it around his fist. "**Hazard Grounding**!" he slammed his fist into the iceberg, shattering most of it on the impact. He pulled his fist back and slammed it down onto the remains of the iceberg again, shattering it into pieces as black lightning burst out everywhere around him. To make sure the iceberg wasn't a danger for the ship he jumped up, slammed his fists together, and formed electricity between them, the same powerful surge of lightning as the one he used back on Usopp's island. "**Piezoelectric Direct Discharge**!"

"That might be going a bit overboard," Nami sweatdropped, with that much lightning Vergil probably completely melted the thing.

Luffy stretched his arm out and grabbed Vergil just a few moments before Vergil could land in the water. He quickly pulled his first mate back but the danger was yet to pass.

"The clouds are moving too fast!" Nami yelled. "Raise the sails!"

"The winds are too strong!" Usopp argued.

"Vergil! Can you do something, use lightning or something to protect the ship?!" Nami questioned, knowing that the sails might be in danger of tearing.

"I'll try! No idea if it'll be enough," he quickly climbed to the crow's nest and took a deep breath. "**Zone Of Protection**!" lightning formed a protective orb around the ship, the winds were still strong, but it did provide minimal protection.

Sanji-kun came out, carrying riceballs. "Everyone, eat up and energize!"

Nami grabbed two riceballs, took a bite from one and went to climb up to the crow's nest. "Here," she handed the other one to Vergil. The devil looked focused on keeping the large shield of lightning going, it was obviously a big strain on him but he kept going.

"Thanks," he quickly swallowed the riceball.

Out of blue and as if weather alone wasn't enough to deal with a large shark-like monster emerged from the water. It was heading straight for the Merry.

"Luffy! I can't stop that!" Vergil yelled.

"**Gomu Gomu no Rocket**!" Luffy knocked it back easily, but his attack disrupted Vergil's lightning just for a few moments.

Vergil gritted his teeth, putting the lightning back in place.

"Was that a demon?!" Nami screamed, of all the things.

"Yeah! As expected from Grand Line!" Vergil confirmed it.

"The sail's started tearing!" Usopp shouted as the two looked down from the crow's nest. It was just a small tear, but it could spread.

"Can you focus the lightning only around the sails?" Nami asked and Vergil nodded, he kept the intensity of the lightning but focused it only around sails.

"We've got a leak on the lower deck!" Miss Wednesday screamed and Usopp immediately went to fix it.

The weather kept changing until finally, after what felt like forever it calmed down, almost as if nothing happened. Everyone on board, aside from Zoro, who was still sleeping, and Luffy who somehow had the energy to sit on Merry's figurehead, just fell down in exhaustion. Nami was resting on her back next to Vergil, she didn't even have the strength to get up right now.

"I don't think I'll need to train tonight," Vergil groaned, feeling just about ready to fall asleep.

At that moment Zoro dared to get up, after everything they all went through now he chose to wake up. "Ah, that was a nice nap. Hm? Hey, come on now. I know the weather's nice and warm but don't you think you're being a bit too lazy?"

If Nami ever wanted to choke Zoro it was at that exact moment.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Zoro dared to ask.

"You, son of a…" she whispered into her chin, not having enough energy to yell at him at the moment. Just a few more moments and she might just fall asleep.

"Did you two get together or something?" Zoro questioned and she didn't need to ask him to confirm if he was talking about her and Vergil, she pretty much knew it considering everyone else was far from one another.

"Lend me part of your staff," Vergil muttered and Nami lazily pulled it out. He was about to throw it at Zoro but then just lowered his arm back. "It's not worth it," he muttered.

Nami turned to her side so that he could face the devil. "Did I fail?" Nami suddenly asked, she wasn't looking into his eyes but she could feel him looking at her. Waiting for the answer she focused on his shirt, he changed into a black T-shirt that morning and now she found it really interesting.

"I don't see how? You kept your head cool, for the most part, you got us out of that mess. If it wasn't for you we would have been lost and likely dead," his words were flattering, but she doubted them.

"I couldn't even pay attention to log pose," she whispered, looking into his eyes, she didn't want anyone else to hear her talk about how she felt at the moment. "I can't fight like you guys and now even my skills as a navigator are lacking."

Vergil moved the strand of her hair back to its place. "I don't know many navigators or much about navigation; that being said, I know you're the best navigator I will ever meet. And if that's still not enough, well, that's fine, because you can get better," he smiled.

Nami looked to the side, slightly embarrassed at the praise. "I'm going to go have a chat with Zoro about his nap," she decided and pushed herself up a bit.

"So violent," Vergil chuckled.

Nami leaned down to his ear. "You know you don't mind that," she whispered.

"If you say so," the devil smirked as Nami got up and walked over to Zoro.

Just the sight of the swordsman, just sitting there, casually chatting with two people that were more useful than him in the storm was enough to ignite Nami's anger again. She walked behind him and slammed her fist into the back of Zoro's head. "Did you have a nice nap?! You wouldn't wake up no matter how hard we tried…" and he even had the guts to turn around and glare at her. Which of course got him additional punches.

"Don't let your guards down, everyone! You can never expect what might happen out here!" she exclaimed, not talking to everyone. "I finally understand just how terrifying this ocean truly is, as well as why they call it the Grand Line! I understand because all of my navigation skills have failed to work!" she declared, making it clear to the crew that she would need to step up, but she declared it with confidence in her abilities. Her words were one thing but her body language displayed nothing but complete confidence in her ability to navigate through the Grand Line. "We'll be fine! Things will work out one way or the other. And as a proof of that, look," she was smiling now, looking at the island ahead of them. "The first leg of our journey is over."

Luffy grinned when he saw it too. "It's an island!" he cheered.

Their first island was ahead of them and it instantaneously renewed everyone's energy.

"Good job, navigator," Vergil walked up to her, smiling and offering her a high-five. And she took it, giving the devil a high-five.

"Now then, we ask you please drop us off here!" Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday crouched on the railing.

"Thank you for taking us here, my honeys, if fate wills it, then let us meet again!" Miss Wednesday added quite dramatically.

"Bye-bye baby!" and they jumped off.

Granted, no one on the crew cared.

"Well, that's over," Vergil sighed, though he looked happy they were gone, and honestly Nami could really agree with that.

"Forget about them! Prepare to land!" Luffy ordered, pointing towards the island.

"By the way, how long does it take for log pose to point to the next island?" Vergil asked, pointing at the log pose on her wrist.

"You know about them?" Sanji-kun questioned, he sounded just as surprised as Nami felt.

"Nope, but it has to reset, otherwise we'd have to get a new one every time we get to an island," Vergil pointed out, his logic wasn't exactly how it worked, but the gist was the same.

"It depends, some islands will take only a few hours while some might take days," Nami explained.

"Wait a second? So we can't escape is some monster is on the island?! And we might have to stay on the island for several days?!" Usopp screamed

Nami nodded. "That's right."

"Well, we'll worry about it when it happens. So let's just go already! It'd be weird not to go in when there's a river in front waiting for us!" Luffy said, pointing towards the river ahead of them.

"For you, maybe," Nami sighed, at times she really wished she was as carefree as Luffy.

"No, what he says is right. There's no use in worrying about it so let's just go," Zoro agreed with their captain.

"If it comes down to it we'll just fight our way out of danger," Vergil pointed out.

"I'll protect you, Nami-san!" Sanji-kun was quick to promise and Nami didn't doubt him for a moment.

"He-Hey, guys, listen I uh, U think I suddenly developed a can't-enter-island-disease," Usopp was frightened and Nami couldn't blame him.

Despite looking calm, her heart was racing. There was no way they could know what was on the island. "Fine, let's go in then," she relented and soon enough they began hearing voices all around them.

"I can't sense devils anywhere nearby, so that's one good thing I guess," Vergil said and it was at least a small reassurance.

As they approached the town they realized people were waiting for them, not to ambush them but to… welcome them?

"Pirates! Welcome to our town! Welcome to Grand Line!"

It was baffling, to say the least as the people cheered and greeted them from the shores.

"Huh? Not only are there no monsters but there're people greeting us," Usopp was considerably calmer now that his fears didn't come true.

"What's going on?" Sanji-kun couldn't help but ask.

Nami narrowed her eyes, this was way too suspicious. She looked back, Vergil and Zoro were just as serious and it was a reassurance she needed. At the very least two of her Nakama were careful.

There was no going back though, and they needed to wait for the log pose to reset either way. So they docked at the shore only to be greeted by a tall man wearing a suit and carrying a saxophone. He also had really curly hair.

"Welg- ahem! Ma-ma-maa~ Welcome, my name is Igarappoi. You may be a little shocked at the welcome, but this is Whisky Peak, a town of liquor and music. Hospitality is our middle name. If it's fine liquor you want, we have an ocean's worth. So please, I cordially invite you to our banquet and hope that you may entread- Ahem! Ma-ma-maaa~ entreat us with tales of your adventures," he sure knew how to get half of the crew immediately on board with the idea.

"Gladly!" Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji-kun were more than ready to follow the stranger.

"Ah, by the way, how long will it take for this island's log to be recorded?" Nami asked as she approached Igarappoi.

"Log? Please put aside thinking of such weary matters for now and focus on resting from your journey!" before Nami could protest Igarappoi tried to pull her a bit closer only for a small burst of electricity to stop him.

"Hands off our navigator, there's no need to trust you this quickly," Vergil narrowed his eyes, sending a clear message to Igarappoi.

"Right, I understand your caution. Everyone! Prepare the banquet! And let us sing to our heart's content for these adventurers! Alright, time for a party!"

As the crew followed the locals Nami fell back to where Vergil was, all the way at the back of the group. "You sure it was a smart idea to reveal what your powers are so quickly?" she questioned.

Vergil shrugged, though his eyes remained focused on the group. "That could have been a hostage situation and we're outnumbered," he scratched the side of his head, closing his eyes for just a bit. "I know it sounds paranoid and it's probably safe to say nothing would have happened, but I don't like taking that risk."

Nami shook her head slightly, that was Vergil alright, the same Vergil that gave her his machete. "Vergil, don't change. I need someone with a brain here," she grinned at him.

_**~X~**_

Hours passed and the party was still going on with no end in sight. Usopp was telling his tales, Sanji was flirting with girls and Luffy was eating all the food he could get, quite probably taking away days, if not weeks, of supplies from the people. On the other hand, Zoro and Nami got into a drinking contest with a bunch of other people.

Vergil, however, just sat and observed. It didn't make sense, no matter how he looked at it. Those two came from this town and they were trying to kill Laboon to get meet to feed this very town. Why were the people so desperate to get food basically throwing it away to throw a party for the pirates? He figured they'd never show their intentions unless he also dropped his guard, or at least acted like he dropped it.

He glanced at his Nakama once more, making sure no one was in danger. Finally, his eyes landed on Nami and he didn't even try to hide the small smile that appeared on his face. She was happy, so much happier than when they first met, which was understandable.

"I stand corrected," he spoke up, turning to Igarappoi. "My apologies for earlier; you've proven me wrong."

"It is understandable, you were just protecting your precious friend," there wasn't any malice in the man's voice and Vergil just grinned.

"I'll take a nap if you don't mind, it's been a long journey," he leaned back into the sofa and closed his eyes.

It didn't take long until the party was over and when it looked like the entire crew was out of commission every single person left.

"A trap, huh?" Vergil muttered, slowly opening his eyes.

"Bounty hunters," Zoro said, his eyes meeting with Vergil's.

"An awfully big number," Vergil pointed out, not that it mattered, he or Zoro would be enough to deal with all of them.

"They are part of a criminal organization whose members don't know a thing about each other's real identities and must refer to each other by their codenames. That's what Baroque Works is," Zoro explained and smirked at Vergil. "I call dibs," he was more than strong enough to take them out and Vergil knew that.

"Have fun," Vergil was perfectly fine with it. "I'll watch over the others, just in case they get some funny ideas."

Zoro jumped to his feet. "I'll leave that to you," he climbed out through the window at the back after making sure it was clear.

_**~X~**_

Grand Line wasn't a place they could underestimate. Zoro knew that and he was reminded of that every time the scar across his chest throbbed. It still wasn't completely healed, it would still take some time until it was, but it was no longer a hindrance. The crew could relax, they deserved it after their voyage. He'd make sure none of the bounty hunters in this town would be able to fight once the crew woke up. And with that in mind and a smirk on his face, he knew he had the perfect opportunity to test out his new katana.

"First up is," he grabbed the handle. "Yubashiri," in one swift motion he cut the table in half and lunged towards the bounty hunters. They couldn't even react before he cut them up. In fact, they didn't even notice it at first. "Very light! A fine blade indeed!"

As the bounty hunters behind him screamed in pain he noticed another group was heading his way. "Oh, I've been spotted."

The grin never left his face as he ran up the ladder only to come face to face with one of the bazookas Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday used to shoot cannonballs at Laboon. He leaned back, barely in time to dodge the cannonball. "That was close," he wasn't all that worried though. Not even when a tall, muscular woman threw a barrel at him from another building. He turned around, slicing the barrel into four pieces. Much to his disappointment, it was full. "What a waste of such a fine liquor," he sighed.

Another bounty hunter, this time armed with a stone hammer charged at him from behind and he unsheathed Sandai Kitetsu. He swung the blade, intending to block the ax only to see the katana slicing right through it. "What? This one cut through a stone ax!" he easily took down the bounty hunter without even looking back at him. "This Sandai Kitetsu has some sharp edge. A masterwork blade only cuts when its user wishes to cut something," now he understood what kind of blade he was dealing with. "This one's gonna be a problem child, alright!" but that was fine, he would defeat the curse and tame the blade.

_**~X~**_

Vergil sighed, he was getting bored and he heard sounds of battle outside. Hell, even Nami went to do something fun, at least compared to just sitting and watching over three sleeping pirates. Judging by the sound of it the fighting was nearly over and aside from a couple of bounty hunters that tried to run through the building Zoro handled them all by himself.

Not that the three Vergil knocked out ten minutes ago would have made any difference.

The doors opened and Vergil saw the blue-haired girl standing outside with a large duck next to her. She was yet to notice him; after all, it was mostly dark within the building. Miss Wednesday approached Luffy with a sword already in her hand, yet somehow she didn't look sinister. She looked like she didn't want to do it, her hand was shaking.

"What's with that resolve?" Vergil revealed his presence and she immediately turned towards him.

"Weren't you asleep?" she questioned, she wasn't frightened, but he could see the slightest fear in her eyes.

"Of course not. Now drop the sword and leave," he didn't feel like fighting her, not when she really wasn't putting her heart into it.

"I can stab your friend and you wouldn't be able to stop me," she pointed out, though she wasn't as confident as she sounded.

Vergil tilted his head to the side. "Come on, you've seen what I can do. You wouldn't move a muscle and I'd already be done with you," he was almost amused by the way she flinched. This was a fight she chose and here she was, facing the consequences. "Want to know what's also funny? Our navigator can't do what Zoro is doing right now, but she could hold her own against a couple of you. The same goes for our sniper. As for our cook, he's a bit weaker than Zoro, the same guy you all are fighting outside," he could see her eyes widening as she realized the crew had one more person capable of taking all of them down. "Then you have me, and I'm stronger than Zoro, not by much, but I am. Finally, there's our captain, and he's stronger than me. So, Baroque Works, next time you want to take us on, bring your entire force," the smirk on his face never vanished as the girl ran for it.

Maybe he should have been a bit gentler with her, but he was bored and he needed a bit of amusement every now and then.

_**~X~**_

Miss Wednesday, no, now wasn't the time for that. Vivi knew she had to hurry. If the devil was telling the truth, then she needed to let Igaram know. They needed to stop fighting this crew otherwise they'd all get killed. If not by others, then by the white-haired devil. His eyes, his cold yellow eyes, frightened her. She was naïve, believing that the few devils she met in her life meant every devil was like that. No, this one was a killer, a monster waiting to be set free from whatever leash the captain had around his neck.

Yet, as she found Igaram and Mr. 9 she realized she was too late. She couldn't even react as the swordsman threw Mr. 9 and in the stroke of misfortune, the man collided with her and Karoo.

Temporarily, Vivi lost her consciousness.

_**~X~**_

Zoro blinked a few times, he didn't mean to hit the girl as well, but that was one enemy less to worry about. The only one left was the curly-haired agent. He was up on the roof and if Zoro tried to get to him he'd already be gone.

The distance was bigger than he wished it to be, but it was within Zoro's reach. He never tried it during a battle, but he successfully pulled it off a handful of times during training with Vergil. He concentrated, gripping Wado Ichimonji with both hands. He needed just the right speed and strength for this to work. Smirk found its way to his face, there was no way he would fail this time. "**36 Pound Ho**!" he swung the katana and an air slash boomed through the air, cutting Mr. 8 before he could even realize what was heading his way.

The battle was over, none of his opponents were left standing.

* * *

_**You know, now that I'm two and a half arcs from where I was in the very first version of this story I feel amazing. Anyway, reviews keep me really motivated, so tell me what you think. Also, several of the amazing people that reviewed in the past pointed out the need to skip scenes without Vergil, especially as far as fights go. Now, I've kept and I'm going to keep scenes that are important to the main characters regardless of Vergil being there. But how do you feel about the way I handled Zoro's fight in this chapter, seeing as I only covered sword introductions and final bit of the battle? Did I skip too much or were you fine with the way it was?**_

_**V: Next chapter is going to be a really big surprise.**_

_**Hey, no spoilers. I do have something major in mind though. Anyway, seeing as I am back, for good hopefully, do you guys have any questions, suggestions, maybe something you'd like to see more of. I'd be happy to hear what you'd like to read.**_

* * *

_**Answers on reviews:**_

_**Or well, review… well, this is kind of discouraging… I guess that's what I get for being so absent. Thank you Guest! I love you, you wonderful person.**_


	20. Mission to save a kingdom

_**Chapter 20 – Mission to save a kingdom**_

* * *

The night was coming to an end, less than two hours before the Sun would start rising again. It was quiet, aside from sleep-talking from his Nakama, Vergil couldn't hear anything. Nami wasn't back yet and Zoro was probably drinking on some roof or something.

A sound of explosions caught his attention. It sounded like a bomb went off and it wasn't too far. Well, he might get some fun and check it out. He opened the doors and saw bounty hunters, unconscious and cut up. "Yeah," he looked back inside. "Luffy might misunderstand this," he sighed, the rubber man was gullible, to say the least and it could be a pain to explain everything to him.

The bounty hunters really were cut down by Zoro and as far as Luffy knew they were friendly. That was one side of the coin. The other one was more likely, Luffy would simply trust Zoro and ask first. Not to mention Vergil would confirm Zoro's story. However, just in case Luffy woke up, saw the bounty hunters on the brink of death, and came across Zoro while Vergil wasn't there and also not willing to hear any explanations it would be better to play it safe.

The chances were almost nonexistent; however, they were still just a bit higher than zero. With that in mind, Vergil went back inside and crouched down next to Luffy. "Hey, what an interesting thing to see, such a mystery," he exclaimed with a small smirk on his face as his currently overweight captain abruptly sat up.

"Where? What?!" Luffy was eager to see what Vergil saw.

"A whole town of liars," Vergil smirked and pointed outside.

Luffy jumped to his feet, which made his ridiculously large stomach jiggle. The confusion on his face was obvious as he tilted his head to the side. "Huh? But they gave us food."

Vergil nodded. "And they are bounty hunters. Every single one of them. It was a trap, but Zoro took care of it," he explained in small sentences, letting it sink in since he wasn't going with his usual meat analogies.

"All of them?" Luffy repeated and Vergil confirmed it causing Luffy to grin. "Shishishi, my crew is awesome!"

Vergil grinned at that. "You bet, come on now, let's find him and Nami, there might be someone else to fight," with most, if not all bounty hunters out of the way he was fairly sure it was safe to leave Sanji and Usopp sleeping there. "How about a race? You need to get rid of all that weight," Vergil suggested only to see Luffy stretching his arms and grabbing onto a nearby roof. "I didn't say where to," he sighed with a smile on his face as his captain flung himself up to the roof.

_**~X~**_

Nami could basically smell it, a big reward for saving the princess of an entire country. And with how desperate the situation was there was no way they could refuse her.

"Greatly rewarded, you say?" she revealed her presence to Zoro and Igaram. "Alright then!" she accepted with a wink and a grin on her face. "How about a billion beri then?"

"Nami?!" Zoro looked way to surprised when he saw her. Honestly, did he expect her to drop her guard?

Igaram was so shocked he started coughing, which prompted his throat-clearing habit.

"Weren't you out cold from all the booze?" Zoro questioned.

"Oh please, how could I just drink and let my guard down in a town that welcomes pirates. Talk about suspicious. I was only pretending to be drunk. I could've drunk a lot more if I wanted to," she bragged with a confident smile on her face.

"Yeah, yeah," Zoro looked away. "So why not stay with Vergil, it was safer with him."

"I wanted to rob them," she said it like it was the most obvious thing to do in this situation before she turned to Igaram. "So, how about it? Can you guarantee us a reward of 1 billion beri, Mr. Captain-of-the-royal-guard? Need I remind you that without our help your precious princess might die, you know?"

"A billion for a princess? Besides, what princess?" she looked up to the roof on her left and saw Vergil and Luffy, both slightly out of breath.

"What did you two do?" Zoro sounded just as puzzled as she was, Vergil and Luffy out of breath was surprising, to say the least.

"A race, sort of," Vergil explained.

"I won!" Luffy cheered.

"We were jumping from building to building with no goal in mind, though," Vergil added as he jumped down from the building and Luffy followed right behind him. "So, who is this princess?" he asked.

"Blue-haired girl, Miss Wednesday," Zoro answered and Nami went back to negotiate with Igaram.

"See, with these three nothing could harm your princess," she said confidently.

"I, I'm afraid I can't guarantee such an astronomical sum since I'm merely a single soldier," Igaram tried to avoid agreeing.

"Which way did she run?" Nami heard Vergil asking but chose to ignore it at the moment. "Oh? Are you saying that the princess of your kingdom is worth less than a billion beri? Pay up," she grinned innocently, knowing full well the man had no other choice but to accept the help no matter the cost.

Igaram coughed up more blood, his wounds didn't look all that good. "In that case, I'm sure that as long as you return the princess safely back to our lands you can directly negotiate with her yourself, and receive that much money."

Nami smirked. "So basically, you're telling us to save her first."

Igaram's eyes narrowed slightly, she could see how desperate he was. "There's no time for negotiating! Even now, as we speak, the princess' life is in danger!"

Nami stood up, there was no other option. "Fine, fine," she said, running her fingers through her hair. "We'll save your little princess first. Alright then! Go, Zoro!"

"Why should I go?! Why do I have to help you with your dirty money-making schemes?!" he demanded.

"Oh, don't be so stupid. My money may be mine alone, but a contract I make is a contract for our whole crew!" she explained, it was reasonable.

"What kind of retarded unfair logic is that?! How old are you?!" Zoro demanded.

"Perfectly sound logic, right Vergil, Luffy?" she turned to her other Nakama and blinked a few times.

"Right! And Vergil called dibs on them!" Luffy said with a large grin on his face.

"He already left?!" Nami and Zoro yelled at the same time.

Luffy just laughed, finding their reaction more than a little amusing,

Nami sighed, well, it didn't really matter. Vergil would do just fine, no matter how strong the enemies were. "Well, it's all the same to me," though she really didn't understand why Vergil of all people went to save the girl.

"Curse my uselessness," Igaram sounded so devastated, he was completely and utterly defeated. "If I were only stronger I could protect the princess…!"

Nami's eyes softened a bit. "Don't worry. Vergil's monstrously strong," she assured the man.

"If anything were to happen to the princess then it would be the end of our kingdom…! She must survive, no matter what!" Igaram declared with such conviction Nami had to believe him.

"Hey, old man, mind telling us what's going on?" Zoro asked.

"Yeah, since we're going to help," Luffy sat down, Nami could see it in his eyes, he already decided to help, even if they didn't officially have a deal with the princess.

_**~X~**_

Vergil ran across the roofs, trying to find the girl, she couldn't have gotten too far in such a short time, that much he was certain of. He finally saw her, sitting on a large duck talking to a muscular pink-haired woman. Behind her, he noticed a pair, a blond girl with an umbrella in her hand, and a black-haired man in a brown trench coat with number 5 on it.

The princess took off and the muscular lady stood there, ready to defend her. She was already beaten up so she likely didn't stand a chance. And as the man lunged towards her Vergil jumped between them. He blocked the man's attack with his forearm only to get an explosion in his face.

He heard two gasps behind him and a sound of duck stopping in its tracks.

"Ah, so you were the one making explosions," he spoke up as the smoke settled. His forearm was a bit singed, but it was hardly what he would call damage. "Next time put a bit more power behind it."

The man backed away, shocked that someone could just take his attack like that.

"Devil?!" the princess exclaimed.

"Stay where you are, I'm here to save you," Vergil told her and glanced back at her with a small smile on his face. "You really didn't look like you wanted to kill anyone. You're a spy, right?"

"Indeed. Now, get out of our way unless you want to die, I'm a human bomb that can make any part of my body explode. You can't defeat me," the man seemed confident, too confident for Vergil's liking.

Vergil grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up in the air. "Detonate then. It'll be the last thing you do," the look in his eyes promised death, his eyes, cold, calculated eyes of a killer sent chills down the man's spine.

Still, the man grabbed Vergil's arm. "**Full Body Explosion**!" he yelled.

"**Zone of Protection**," Vergil formed the shield of lightning around his body. The explosion engulfed him, damaging his clothes and actually causing some pain, but lightning withstood it for the most part.

"W-What the?!" the man cried out, not understanding how the devil was still standing.

"Mr. 5!" the woman bellowed jumping in the air for some reason.

"I warned you," Vergil punched the man's cheek before slamming his knee into Mr. 5's guts and as he doubled over he went and planted his elbow into Mr. 5's neck, sending him down into the ground. "It didn't even take lightning?" he looked down at the unconscious man. "Pathetic, Baroque Works."

"**10,000 Kilo Press**!" the woman was heading straight for him from above.

Vergil considered just stepping to the side and letting her hit the ground, but that felt like it wouldn't take her down. An idea popped in his head, and he eventually did step back a bit just before the woman hit the ground where he stood. Vergil gathered electricity around his fist and slammed it into the ground. "**Grounding**!" he let electricity flow, go through the ground, and electrify the woman and her partner.

For a few moments, he just stood there, no sounds were coming, she wasn't moving. Vergil sighed and crouched down to pull the woman out. She was unconscious, just like her partner.

"I don't believe it; just like that… Two officer agents…" the princess gasped in utter disbelief.

"H-how were we supposed to defeat that?" the other woman asked as Vergil walked over to them.

"Come on, that curly-haired guy asked for our help," he said, pointing back to where he came from.

"Why should we trust you? You're our enemy," the taller woman demanded while the princess just observed him.

Vergil sighed, maybe he should have taken Nami with him, that way she could do the talking. The princess didn't look like she trusted him and he did scare her not too long ago. And it wasn't the first time he threatened her either. "Look, I don't have the full picture, but I figure you're a princess that infiltrated a criminal organization for some reason. I kind of like people with guts so here I am, saving you. Besides, if I didn't come here, you'd be dead anyway, so even if I am your enemy you don't have anything to lose seeing as you should have died like two minutes ago."

"Miss Wednesday don't listen to him! Run!" the tall woman exclaimed, looking ready to attack despite the fear.

Vergil sweatdropped, she saw him fight and still wanted to fight for her friend. Oh well, he had to respect that.

The princess looked him directly in the eyes before slowly nodding. "Take me back to Igaram," she requested and then looked at the other woman. "Thank you, but I feel like I can trust him, at least a bit."

Vergil nodded and turned around, taking the girl with him. They didn't say a single word and he could basically feel her caution. Finally, after ten minutes they reached the spot where Luffy, Nami, Zoro, and curly-haired man were. Luffy was sitting on a barrel, Zoro sat on the stone fence and Nami was leaning against the wall.

"Igaram!" she jumped off her duck and ran to the man's side.

"Vivi-sama, are you alright?!" Igaram asked, finding enough strength to sit up against the wall.

"I am, the devil saved me," she nodded, looking over Igaram's wounds. Her hands were shaking slightly, she felt guilty for leaving him behind.

Igaram looked at him and nodded. "Thank you."

Vergil shook his head. "I wouldn't thank me yet, you've got Nami to deal with," he smirked slightly, motioning towards the navigator.

Nami mirrored his smirk and walked over to him. "Mind elaborating that, hm?" she hit him over the head lightly.

Vergil just chuckled at that. "Just saying the truth," he replied making Nami roll her eyes.

Igaram managed to get up. "I need to take care of something. Vivi-sama, please consider accepting their help," he advised.

"You sure you can do it on your own?" Zoro asked and the man nodded.

"Were they strong?" Luffy suddenly asked while Nami began explaining her demands to Vivi.

"Nope, quite weak actually. One of them could make explosions out of any part of his body and the other seemed to be manipulating her weight. They aren't really a threat," Vergil explained.

"Your clothes are torn though," Zoro pointed out.

Vergil looked down, his clothes really did look like he took a good hit. He shrugged, not really caring about it. "I gave him a free hit and he didn't use it well enough."

"I refuse!" Vivi's declaration got their attention. "But you have my gratitude for saving me just now," her eyes were hard, unwavering.

"Why? You're a princess, right? A billion beri should be like nothing for a princess," Nami pointed out.

"And the country would likely be economically devastated," Vergil chimed in ignoring Nami's glare.

"Have you heard of a kingdom called Alabasta?" Vivi asked.

"No, can't say that I have," Nami admitted, her arms were now crossed as she waited for an explanation.

"It's a highly civilized country within the Grand Line. And it used to be a peaceful one at that too… long ago," Vivi began and after Nami prompted her to keep going she continued. "It's on the verge of a civil war. In recent years, a call for revolution has emerged. The citizens began committing acts of insurrection, causing the land to fall into chaos," she clenched her fists, but she didn't tremble, not yet anyway. "One day, I heard the name of a secret organization: Baroque Works!" her eyes narrowed at the mere mention of the name, her anger was on full display for them to see. "I discovered that they were responsible for inciting the rebellion. Aside from this, however, I was unable to procure any further information. So I went to Igaram, who had looked after me since I was a little girl."

"The chikuwa-haired old man?" Luffy asked, gesturing at the shape of Igaram's hair.

"Chiku-, ah, yes, that's him. I decided to infiltrate Baroque Works. I thought that if I did, I could find out who was pulling the strings and what his plans were," she was coming to the conclusion of her story.

Vergil remained silent, his eyes fixed on the otter and vulture sitting on the roof.

"Well, aren't you a brave princess," Zoro commented, there was a small hint of admiration for Vivi's guts.

"So what exactly is the deal with this 'Ideal nation' Igaram-san told me about?" the moment Nami asked that the answer came to her on its own. "Wait, don't tell me…"

Vivi nodded. "Yes, it's as you might expect. Although the boss has hinted at the goal of creating an ideal nation Baroque Works' true objective is to take over the kingdom of Alabasta! And if I don't hurry back to my home to stop the revolution and tell people about Baroque Works things will go exactly as they planned!"

"I see; I guess that explains why you refused. A country on a verge of civil war wouldn't have any money to spare," Nami realized, she understood it well, the situation Vivi was in.

"How come he managed to get the people to rebel?" Vergil asked, he shifted his gaze to Vivi, expecting the answer.

Vivi looked him in the eyes, still not entirely sure what to make of him. "Alabasta is a desert kingdom. When Boss came to the country a drought began everywhere but in Alubarna. Later, someone planted Dance Powder in the royal palace and it instigated a rebellion. That's the gist of what happened," her answer sounded honest.

Vergil was fine with it, he believed her and from the looks of it, she wasn't doing this for the sake of keeping power. If she was she wouldn't infiltrate the organization personally.

"What's the Dance Powder?" Zoro asked.

"It's used to make artificial rain; however, it takes rain from nearby areas. So people thought the king was stealing their rain," Nami explaining prompting Vivi to nod.

"So who is this Boss anyways?" Luffy asked curiously and with an actual grin on his face.

"You mean the Boss' true identity?!" Vivi went into a bit of a panic mode as she waved her hands in front of her. "Please don't ask me! In fact, you're better off not knowing! If you knew Baroque Works would come and hunt you down!"

Nami laughed uncomfortably at that. "Yeah, just leave us out of it. I mean, a guy who's planning to take over an entire country must be one incredibly dangerous person!"

"I'd be willing to fight," Vergil shrugged, it would be a good way to test their strength in Grand Line.

"Right?" Luffy grinned at him, completely agreeing.

"It could be exciting," Zoro shared their enthusiasm for a potential fight.

"SHUT UP!" Nami screamed at them. "He's dangerous!"

"Yes, exactly. No matter how strong you pirates may be, you'd be no match for a member of the Shichibukai, Crocodile!" she absolutely said it.

Vergil's eye twitched at the slip of the tongue, she didn't intend for this to happen.

Nami's jaw dropped and her eyes widened in utter horror.

Luffy's jaw dropped as well, though far less than Nami's. And he wasn't afraid, just surprised that Vivi let it slip.

Zoro sweatdropped, slightly annoyed at the way they found out. "Didn't you just say his name…?"

And Vivi, she covered her mouth as if that would change anything.

"Say, those wouldn't happen to be part of his organization?" Vergil pointed at the vulture and the otter. Just as he said it the vulture took flight with the otter on its back.

"A Shichibukai she said! Whoa!" Luffy was more than a little excited.

"Heh, not bad," Zoro smirked.

"Guess we'll start this off with a band," Vergil completely agreed while Nami was screaming her heart out at Vivi. "Should I save her again?" Vergil wondered.

"If you have a death wish," Zoro and surprisingly Luffy said at the same time.

Vergil smirked at that and wrapped an arm around Nami's waist before pulling her away from Vivi. Poor girl just kept apologizing. "Easy now, it'll be fine," he tried to comfort Nami, and instead she turned her anger at him.

"We just barely entered Grand Line and already we have a Shichibukai chasing after us! What do you think is going to happen to us now?! All because of one slip-up! I'm not as monstrously strong as you guys! I don't want to die because you had to save a princess!" she tried shaking him by the shirt and when that didn't really work she turned to punch his chest repeatedly, not that that worked either.

Vergil sighed, he still had his right arm around her waist. "Look, you can't tell me you don't feel at least a bit of sympathy for the girl," he pulled her a bit closer and she finally stopped hitting him.

"That's beside the point," Nami muttered and Vergil knew, despite her fear she really did feel sorry for Vivi. She understood for the most part how Vivi felt. In a way, they had similar circumstances, a man that was taking everything away from them, a home they would die to protect and hardly anyone to trust. "Why didn't you do something?" she demanded weakly.

"Take a look at Luffy and Zoro, they are willing to fight, they are excited about this. Come on, Nami, there was no way we could just ignore what's happening here. Let them know we're coming, it doesn't matter. Once Crocodile figures out his agents failed to kill Vivi he'll know she's working with someone, we can't have the element of surprise no matter how you look at it," he explained, sure, he could have killed the animals, but that wouldn't change anything, not as far as he was concerned. He looked at Vivi and saw the utter shock on her face. It was clear what she was wondering. Was he really the same devil that threatened her, that frightened her?

"Fear not! It'll be ar- Ma-ma-maa~ It'll be alright!" Igaram returned carrying four stuffed dummies and wearing an outfit that looked exactly like Vivi's. "I have a plan!"

"Igaram?! W-what's with that outfit?!" Vivi demanded, not really sure how to react to the way Igaram looked.

"Whoa! You can definitely pull off that look!" Luffy was impressed, though, Luffy was easily impressed when it came to many things.

"Enough about that and just listen to me. Once Baroque Works network learns of what happened, they'll be sure to send pursuers right away. More so since you even defeated Mr. 5 and his partner. Just to let you know, before his bounty was frozen Crocodile had an 81 million beri bounty," Igaram revealed causing Nami to go into another fit of panic.

"That's four times Arlong's bounty!" she leaned her forehead against Vergil's chest, realizing that no matter what she said the situation wasn't getting any better.

"By the way, have you decided on whether or not to safely escort the princess back to Alabasta yet?" Igaram inquired, looking at Luffy.

Luffy nodded. "Sure. Fine by me," he said with a grin on his face.

Igaram smiled, it looked like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "Now then, Vivi-sama. Please hand me the eternal pose to Alabasta."

That caught Nami's attention. "Huh? What's an eternal pose?"

"Hm? You don't know? Simply put it's a log pose that can eternally record a magnetic field. A normal log pose records the magnetic field of an island to guide a ship from island to island. However, the magnetic field recorded by an eternal pose is never forgotten. No matter where you go it will only point to that very island," he showed them the eternal pose. "That is what an eternal pose is. This one, in particular, has recorded the magnetic field of Alabasta. Now then, Vivi-sama, I shall take this log pose and set forth for Alabasta. While dressing up as you and taking these 4 dummies to represent these 4 wanted pirates. And while agents of Baroque Works chase after me, you are to travel on the normal route to Alabasta on their ship. I haven't sailed to Alabasta using the normal route myself, but there should be around 2 or 3 logs to record along the way. Take care, and may we meet again in our homeland," with that being said it didn't take them long to get to the ship Igaram prepared.

"I hereby leave the princess in your care," he told all of them and offered his hand to Vivi. Of course, she immediately took it. "The journey ahead of you may be dangerous so please, be careful."

"You too, Igaram," she said.

Igaram set sail while the crew watched him leave.

"Aww, he left. He was such a funny guy too," Luffy complained, though he understood why Igaram had to go.

"He's always been so dependable," Vivi said, one could hear in her voice just how much she cared about the man.

But just as they turned around to leave a huge explosion went off, there was no mistaking it, it was Igaram's ship. The entire crew stood, shocked at the sight in front of them.

"It can't be," Nami gasped.

"That's too fast," Vergil narrowed his eyes. If they were this quick, then they had to know.

Luffy's eyes were overshadowed by his hat and he clenched his jaw before turning around. "He was a fine man!" he yelled and Vergil saw anger in his eyes. Luffy quickly began heading back to Merry and Vergil followed.

"Nami! How's the log?!" Zoro was right behind them as well.

"I-It finished recording!" Nami replied, still shocked over what happened.

"Then let's hurry up and get going!" Zoro ordered, there was no time to waste, no matter what they couldn't stay on the island.

Vergil had a bad feeling about this, something wasn't right. No matter how quick their network was it was too quick. Someone was expecting this to happen. So once they set sail that someone was probably going to make a move.

_**~X~**_

And as the ship set sail, slowly leaving the river his worries turned out to be true.

"Be careful not to crash your ship into the rocks near the shore. And congratulations on your escape," a voice they didn't know spoke up behind them.

When they turned around they saw a beautiful black-haired girl with blue eyes wearing a relatively revealing cowboy-like outfit.

"What a nice ship this is," she commented as if she wasn't an intruder. Her calm demeanor was chilling, it looked like she was confident she could take them all on her own. "I must tell you, Miss Wednesday, I met up with Mr. 8 just a little while ago."

Vivi's eyes widened as the realization hit her. "Are you saying… it was you who did that to Igaram?!"

"Hey! Why are you on our ship anyways?!" Luffy demanded.

"What are you doing all the way out here, Miss All-Sunday?!" Vivi demanded but the woman just kept smiling, that mysterious confident smile she had since she revealed herself to the crew, it infuriated Vivi. No matter what she could never read this woman.

"Who is it this time?! Whose partner is she?!" Nami questioned.

"She's Mr. 0's partner! She's the only one who knows the Boss' true identity, which is why Igaram and I tailed after her, to find out who the Boss was as well," Vivi explained.

"Well, technically, it was more like I let you tail after me," Miss All-Sunday revealed, and from the looks of it she wasn't lying. Someone that managed to get on a ship as small as Going Merry without being noticed wasn't going to be so careless.

"Oh, so she's a good guy," Luffy guessed, after all, that did allow Vivi to find out who the enemy was.

"I already knew that! And I bet you're the one who told the Boss that his identity was leaked!" Vivi was certain of it.

"Oh, so she's a bad guy!" Luffy changed his mind.

"Well, she's neither really, she's a girl," Vergil pointed out, though seeing how saying bad girl or good girl would sound… Yeah, Luffy might as well keep calling her a good/bad guy.

"Just what exactly is your objective?!" Vivi wasn't stopping her questioning but even with her aggressive demeanor, it was clear who had the upper hand in the conversation.

"Now, now, no need to get so worked up," she sounded like she was scolding a child. Which was probably how she saw Vivi anyway. "I only let you follow me because you looked so desperate. And it was just too amusing to observe. A single princess who foolishly thinks she can take on the entire Baroque Works organization and save her kingdom."

That completely set Vivi off. "Don't underestimate me!" she screamed. It was a clash of hot and cold, passion and one could say indifference, desperation and amusement. The two were opposites and it was clear.

At once two-thirds of the crew reacted. Zoro pulled out Wado Ichimonji, Nami prepared her staff, Sanji pointed a gun at the woman and Usopp pointed his slingshot. The last two woke up and were now in front of the kitchen doors, on each side of Miss All-Sunday. Seeing as she was sitting on the railing it looked like she'd have nowhere to go.

"Hey, do you understand what's going on?" Usopp asked Sanji.

"No, but what I do know for sure is that this woman's a threat to my lovely Miss Wednesday," Sanji replied.

Miss All-Sunday wasn't in any way concerned by being surrounded. "Would you please mind not pointing such a dangerous weapon at me?" Before anyone could see what she had done both Sanji and Usopp fell down to the lower deck and Nami and Zoro had their weapons knocked out of their hands.

"What?!" Zoro gasped.

"It's a Devil Fruit!" Vivi realized.

Vergil narrowed his eyes, it was a Devil Fruit, but he didn't get what it was. How could she so easily disarm them? This woman was trouble, and he smirked.

"Whoa! She's a real beauty!" Sanji, now that he could take a look at her seemed like he fell head over heels for her.

"Fufufu, no need to get so riled up. I haven't come here on any orders nor do I have any reasons for fighting you people," Miss All-Sunday spoke, and not a moment later Luffy's hat was thrown off his head and into her hand. "Su you're the captain of the Straw Hat pirates, Monkey D. Luffy."

And that, of course, got Luffy all riled up. "Gimme back my hat! So you are trying to pick a fight with us, are you now?" he yelled at her.

"I've now decided to see you as my enemy so come at me!" Usopp yelled from behind the mast, almost as if he was trying to put words in Luffy's mouth.

Miss All-Sunday still had that same demeanor. She even put Luffy's hat on top of her own. "How unfortunate, small-time pirates having to look after a princess targeted by the entire Baroque Works organization and a lone princess having to entrust herself to a sew small-time pirates. But above all, how unfortunate your route pointed out by your log pose is."

Her statement surprised them all.

"The name of the next place on your journey is, 'Little Garden' even if I weren't to lay a single finger on you it's more than likely that you'd still never reach Alabasta. Without even meeting Crocodile, the curtains will close on your mission and lives," it almost sounded like an ominous warning, but a warning nonetheless. Still, she did say she was amused by Vivi tailing her.

"As if we'd just roll over and die! Now give me back my hat!" Luffy was focusing on only one thing, his hat.

"Yeah, how dare you! Y-You, big meanie!" Usopp continued shouting from behind the mast, obviously frightened of her.

With a flick of her finger, she tossed the hat back onto Luffy's head. "Enough howling, anyone could put up a brave front. Yet to know of the difficulty that lies ahead and still rush in is an act fit for fools only," it wasn't only the hat she tossed them. She tossed something to Vivi as well.

"An eternal pose?!" Vivi was more than confused by this.

"You'll be able to skip right over your future troubles with that. The needles of that log pose points to an obscure uninhabited island located right before Alabasta. Moreover, the route you'll be navigating is unknown to Baroque Works so you won't be followed by anyone either," Miss All-Sunday revealed.

"What? Is she actually a good person then?" Nami wondered.

"W-Why would you give such a thing to me?!" Vivi couldn't help but question the intentions behind the seeming act of kindness.

"It's probably a trap," Zoro assumed and it was definitely an option.

"Oh, I wonder about that," still the woman was cryptic, to say the least.

But Luffy already made a decision. "Enough wasting time with that!" he exclaimed and grabbed the eternal pose before crushing it in his hand.

Nami immediately kicked him down. "Are you an idiot?! She came out all the way here to teach us the safest route to Alabasta! What are you going to do if she turns out to be a good person?!"

Yet Luffy fixed his eyes on Miss All-Sunday. "Don't you dare think, that you can choose the path of our journey!"

She remained silent for a few moments. "I see, how unfortunate," she commented and stood up.

"She blew up that chikuwa mister so I hate her," Luffy declared as she began walking away.

"Luffy, can I?" Vergil suddenly spoke up loud enough for everyone to hear. Miss All-Sunday stopped to look at him. So far she barely even looked at him, but now her blue eyes were looking right at him.

"Yeah," Luffy couldn't know what Vergil had in mind, but he trusted his first mate.

"**Zone of Protection**," in an instant, lightning engulfed Going Merry, not only that, it was surrounding his neck as well, she wasn't getting him that easily. "You aren't leaving that quickly, Sunday Girl."

"Oh, is that so?" she asked, smiling confidently. She even sat down on the railing again, in that same confident, completely open position she did before. "I can't say I'm disappointed."

Vergil, on the other hand, leaned against the mast, he put his hands in his pockets and grinned. "Already taken a liking to us, huh?" he smirked, he wasn't in the hurry.

"Vergil, what are you doing?" Nami hissed at him.

"Taking a hostage," Vergil explained nonchalantly.

Miss All-Sunday seemed amused at that. "Leonidas Vergil, Black Thunder of Warriors of Volos, there are quite a few rumors surrounding you."

Vergil raised an eyebrow. "You humans flatter me," he replied.

She mirrored his movement. "Us humans?"

"Hmm? You're an interesting one, aren't you, Sunday Girl?" Vergil commented. "How about you join us on this, what'd you call it again," he paused for a moment as if he tried hard to remember. "Yes, difficult route?"

Before the woman could reply Luffy poked Vergil in the shoulder. Having gotten Vergil's attention, as well as Miss All-Sunday's, he pulled Vergil a bit closer as if he intended to whisper. "Does she know about camping?" he asked, but he definitely didn't whisper.

Vergil couldn't resist the urge to facepalm. "Probably," his demeanor changed when talking to his captain, he wasn't playing any kind of game, he was simply honest with Luffy.

"Camping?" The rest of the crew and Vivi repeated. They had no idea what Luffy was talking about.

Amusingly, neither did Miss All-Sunday. "I have to admit I don't follow you, captain-san," she said, though no one was as amused about it as she was.

Luffy seemed taken aback by that. "You don't? Then forget about it, it's a secret," Luffy requested making everyone aside from Vergil and Miss All-Sunday fall to their back in utter shock.

"Fufufu," she chuckled before turning her attention back to Vergil. "So, you're taking me as a hostage," she wasn't a hostage and they all knew it, but she seemed willing to play along, if for no other reason than for her own amusement.

Vergil smirked. "Not for long. I'd like you to contact Crocodile," he said and at that, even she couldn't help but be at least a bit surprised. Vergil's yellow eyes clashed with her bright, blue ones, he couldn't read her, but she couldn't predict his every move either

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_**Whisky Peak – Completed**_

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_**So, how about that? I do hope it at least surprised you.**_

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_**Answers on reviews:**_

_**Big thank you to Guest, Drago pirate, Guest, and Zovc-Y, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter.**_

_**KP360 – I absolutely agree with everything you said about the last two chapters. Also, hopefully, the change I made in this chapter lived up to the promise from the previous author note. Naturally, thanks for the review.**_

_**Sagicknight – Thank you, I'm glad you're fine with how much I'm skipping.**_


	21. Little wolf on a big adventure

_**Arc 9 – Litt**__**le Garden**_

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_**Chapter 21 – Little wolf on a big adventure**_

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There were hundreds of places they could have used. Maybe even thousands. Pretty much any military base could have worked. No. They had to add salt to the injury.

Felan narrowed his eyes, he was hidden in the branches of one of the largest trees in the forest. He was completely hidden by leaves, more importantly, he was hidden by darkness. How could Galina do this? All of this? "Why?" he mumbled into his chin, uncle loved her and she betrayed him, everyone and now she was keeping Perun like a trophy in the rainforest uncle was born in.

Her and Acharon even went the extra mile to have the base built exactly where uncle's house used to be.

"Little Wolf, do you hear me?" a voice spoke through the helmet on Felan's head.

"Will you quit it with codenames already? It's dad's old gear, there's no way they'd think it's still working," Felan complained, his eyes fixed on the stone fortress.

"Come on, it's more fun like that," of course that's the reasoning behind codenames. "It sounds badass."

Felan rolled his eyes. "There's nothing badass about 'little wolf', Wolzard. Is Blagel ready?" he asked.

It took a few moments, but Wolzard eventually did reply. "Yeah. He's a bit uneasy, but I feel like he understands," Wolzard spoke with a rare hint of seriousness in his voice.

Felan saw a devil approaching the fortress, he was carrying a letter and Felan couldn't suppress a smirk. "I think it worked. Acharon is back in Nawia so this should lure Galina and the staff outside."

"Will you ever stop calling her like that? She-"

"She what? Abandoned me? Betrayed uncle? Turned her back on dad? That's not a mother, that's just an enemy," Felan replied firmly, there was no doubt in his heart. He knew who his family was and Galina wasn't a part of it. She chose not to be.

"Alright, Verge 2.0, focus," Wolzard sighed, accepting defeat for a bit longer, though Felan knew it wouldn't be the last time he tried to talk about Galina.

Ten people left the fortress, so four guards, three staff members, two scientists and Galina. "They are leaving. Galina is with them."

"You'd think they'd be more thorough with messages like these. I mean we just told them to come back to Nawia for an urgent meeting," Wolzard commented, he sounded dumbfounded by the results of Felan's plan.

"I keep explaining to you; Leonidas family shares the signature black darkness. Aside from Galina and Acharon the only Leonidas left is uncle and he is in the Human World. Neither of them knows I can use darkness," Felan explained and slowly climbed down the tree, just in case someone decided to come back.

"Be careful, once they realize things could get rough," Wolzard warned him.

"As soon as we get back to Neo-Volos they won't be able to touch us. You just keep watch," Felan dismissed Wolzard's worries, no matter what he couldn't let doubt cloud his judgment here.

"Verge 2.0, in all ways possible," Wolzard sighed and Felan had to smirk, it sounded like his partner in crime was getting tired.

"I'm proud to be like uncle," uncle was always there when he needed him. He and grandma raised him, trained him, they gave him family when there was no one else to do it. And now, after half a year of planning, he could repay that. He gripped the handle of one of the Xiphoi, short swords, uncle made for him.

"You know, Vergil would be livid if he knew what you were doing," Wolzard commented, chuckling slightly at the thought.

Felan just smiled, he approached the building from the left side. There was a small dent in the wall he could use. Luckily he was still a child so he wouldn't need a big hole to go through. "Are you keeping watch?"

"I can see you, damn, it's so dark, but I can see you," Wolzard assured him.

"I'm going in," Felan began gathering electricity, it was darker than his uncle's. From what he heard it was the same color as his father's. He placed his palm against the wall and began charging electricity through the dent, it would be strong enough to break through the wall. He'd need to be careful, if he disrupted Perun with too much electricity it wouldn't end well for him. Which was also the reason why the building wasn't protected in any way.

Dent grew larger until it became just wide enough for him to squeeze through. Felan found himself in a pitch dark room, not that it was a problem, he could see in the dark. Now, from what he managed to figure out with Wolzard he would find Perun's sheathe in the highest tower, overlooking the forest. Once he got the sheathe, the blade would start reacting and break through whatever they were keeping It in. Then he'd just have to go all the way to the bottom of the tower, take Perun and run for it until he reached Blagel.

"I'm inside. Is everything fine?" he asked as he began running through the corridors, the damn thing was like a miniature maze, but luckily he could feel Perun. It felt like uncle, not that it surprised him, it was uncle's soul after all.

"So far so good. Remember, it's second stairs to the right, and then just keep going up," Wolzard reminded him.

"Got it," it still bugged him, how Wolzard managed to follow Galina. Well, maybe she regretted it. He passed the first stairs and then went left until he came across the second stairs. They were steep, especially for a kid that turned twelve not even a month ago. He still ran up to the top and right there with moonlight shining over it he saw the red and black sheathe. Perun's sheathe. Felan took a deep breath. "It's here," he panted slightly, but he was way too happy to notice any fatigue.

The sheathe was kept in the air by several chains, yet setting it free would be easy. He unsheathed one Xiphos, the blade was red and black, a Demon Forged made from uncle's wings, the patterns on the blade were the exact replica of patterns on Perun's blade. That was the one he needed to make this work. He pressed the tip of the blade against Perun's sheathe; it would recognize and react to uncle's Demon Forged.

"Felan, what's happening? Did it work?" Wolzard sounded impatient, probably wishing he was right there with him as well.

The sheathe remained still for a few moments. "Nothing yet, I'm not sure what else to do," he admitted and touched the sheathe. "Come on, Perun, please," as if his touch and voice stirred the Devil Arm back to life the entire building began shaking. Felan's eyes widened as he felt familiar, warm electricity traveling from his fingertips to the rest of his body. The chains snapped and the sheathe floated into his hands.

"Thank you," he muttered, hugging the sheathe, it knew him, he was sure of that. Now, all that was left was the blade. "I got it," he said, informing Wolzard of his progress.

"Run! Forget the blade, just get out of there!" Wolzard suddenly yelled. "It's Galina! She's back!"

Felan's eyes widened as he heard Wolzard transforming and leaping from the tree. An unmistakable sound of wind slashing through the air sent chills down his spine. But he couldn't run without the blade. Not when this would be their only chance. He ran down as fast as he could, he even used lightning to speed up as much as he could.

She was there, he could feel her presence in the building. She knew where he was heading. "Uncle Vergil," he shut his eyes for a moment, fighting back the fear. Just a bit more and he'd get the blade, then he'd, he didn't know what he'd do. Fight his way out? He was no match for Galina. He burst through the doors, and there it was, the shashka he saw countless times, Perun. The blade and the sheathe reunited, but it was too late to run, she was behind him.

"Felan," her voice, it was soft, comforting, for a moment he felt safe. But it was an illusion, she left him, she left everyone.

He looked back and saw Wolzard, the small golden wolf was unconscious and there was blood on his fur. "Let Wolzard go," he demanded, his yellow eyes narrow as he glared at the woman. "Mother," he spat as if the word was poison to him.

For a moment she even dared to look hurt as she looked away. "Why would you do something this reckless?" Galina asked, she wasn't looking at him. She just stood there.

"I'm telling you to let him go!" he yelled, electricity surging around him and for the first time, he saw the shock on her face.

"Grom…" she whispered, losing her balance for a moment and leaning her back against the wall just so she could stay on her feet. She even dropped Wolzard and the small blaid-demon groaned.

Felan quickly tied Perun to his back and unsheathed his Xiphoi, the other one was deep blue with hints of light purple here and there, it was the Demon Forged his father made for him. He and uncle made the pair of Xiphoi for him, one from uncle's wings, the other from father's horns. Felan wasn't going down without a fight, no matter what.

Galina remained shell-shocked, her gaze fixed on Felan's weapons. "You're going to fight me?" she asked, almost as if she couldn't believe her eyes.

"If that's what it takes," he replied, waiting for her to make a move.

Galina bit her lower lip and blasted a large hole through the wall. Felan's eyes widened, if she attacked with even half that strength he'd be dead. He waited for the attack, yet all she did was grab Wolzard. "Put your weapons away and catch him," she said, she wasn't looking at him, she just looked outside.

Felan reluctantly put his weapons away and when she noticed he did it she just tossed Wolzard into his arms. "Blagel is too recognizable, keep that in mind next time you go on a suicide mission," she said, her voice as cold as ice as she left the room. Felan fell down, unable to stay on his feet any longer. Galina let him go, with Perun. He heard the sound of hoofs stepping on the floor and looked to the side. Blagel, somehow knew it needed to come and pick them up. The demonic horse with flaming blue eyes gently nudged him with his head.

Slowly, though he was still a bit unsteady, Felan climbed up onto Blagel's back. He didn't feel like he did it, in fact, it felt like he was allowed to do it.

_**~the Human World, approximately 20 hours earlier~**_

Vergil had it all under control, Nami was sure of it. Sure, he just decided to take Crocodile's partner as a hostage; the very partner that disarmed Zoro and threw Sanji over the railing effortlessly. But he definitely had a plan, there was no doubt about it.

"I'd like you to contact Crocodile," ah, that made perfect sense. Yeah, it was a good plan.

Contact the warlord whose goal was to take over a country? Of course, they could do that, no big deal. "No way!" Nami slammed her fist into Vergil's head with as much strength as she could muster. "Are you an idiot? Why would we do that?!" she demanded feeling like she was just about to burst into flames from frustration.

And of course, Miss All-Sunday, or Sunday Girl as Vergil decided to call her, chose that moment to once again chuckle in that annoying fufufu way. Oh, she'd give her 'fufufu', she'd wipe that confident, pretentious smile off her face. "I'll deal with you later!" she turned around, pointing at the older woman.

"Oh?" yet the woman just raised an eyebrow, as if she was the one in control here.

"She'll rob you of all you have and then demand money for troubles she had to go through while she was stealing," Vergil chimed in.

"That's about right," Zoro agreed, suddenly way more relaxed.

"You bastards! How dare you talk about Nami-san like that?!" Sanji-kun yelled at them and Nami could feel a migraine coming fast.

"Can someone tell me what's going on here?!" Usopp pleaded for any kind of explanation.

Luffy pointed toward Miss All-Sunday. "She's a bad guy," as if that explained everything.

"I already know that!" Usopp wailed.

Vergil turned his attention away from Nami and back to Miss All-Sunday. "As you can see, you aren't really a hostage. You can leave," he even made the electricity disappear. He was actually letting her go.

"What was the point then?!" Nami and Vivi yelled at him.

Vergil dared to just shrug. "I mean; we can't really hold her here. Keeping her in a lightning cage would be unnecessarily cruel and I can't really watch over her 24/7, and you guys don't want to contact Crocodile," even as he said that his eyes were fixed on Miss All-Sunday.

Nami facepalmed, feeling like everything Vergil said and did over the last couple of minutes was just a waste of time.

"You aren't done talking, are you, Black Thunder-san?" Miss All-Sunday inquired, in a way she was encouraging him to keep going.

Vergil actually smiled at that. Almost as if he knew something none of them did. "Say, correct me if I'm wrong, but it was Sunday, wasn't it? Bright red sky, not a single cloud in sight, it was really hot as well. I'm sure it was Sunday because I didn't have any practice sessions."

Nami raised an eyebrow at that and looked back at the woman. She seemed puzzled until a look of recognition briefly appeared on her face.

"How about we sit down and talk about this?" Vergil offered as he climbed up and stopped by the kitchen doors. "I'm sure we could come to an agreement."

Nami couldn't believe it, it was almost as if Vergil was offering an alliance to the enemy.

"I refuse," surprisingly, it wasn't Miss All-Sunday that said it, it was Luffy. "She killed chikuwa old guy."

"I can't believe he's a voice of reason here," Usopp couldn't help but point out. "Come on, Vergil, she's an enemy."

"I will not work with her either," Vivi declared, it looked like she wasn't going to budge when it came to that.

"I don't believe Black Thunder-san said anything about working together," Miss All-Sunday pointed out, the confident smile was back on her face. "What exactly do you have in mind?"

Vergil smirked, just as confident as she was. "I'm giving you a way out. Sail with us for a bit, perhaps until we reach that next island and then decide what to do. I'm sure you're looking for something in Alabasta; stay neutral and you could probably get it."

"Fufufu," her hat was covering her eyes, but Nami could see the hint of a smirk on her face. "Does your crew know what kind of man they are sailing with?"

"The past doesn't matter, Vergil is Vergil," Luffy said, he was glaring at Miss All-Sunday.

Nami, however, couldn't help but question the meaning behind those words. Vergil was acting completely different right now. She couldn't read him, his every word sounded like it had a double meaning, a code Nami couldn't crack. It worried her, after all, up until that point she was fairly certain she understood the white-haired devil. Now, she wasn't so sure.

"Old habits die hard," Vergil admitted and offered Miss All-Sunder his hand. "How about it then? Will you consider staying out of this conflict?"

"Fufufu, perhaps I will," she accepted his hand. "And should I decide to break my part of the deal?"

Vergil chuckled. "That depends. Some rules should be broken," the smirk on his face told the woman something Nami couldn't put her finger on.

It didn't matter how she looked at it, she lacked something crucial, something Vergil and this woman knew and it kept her from seeing the entire picture.

Vergil turned his attention to Luffy. "Are you fine with this, Luffy?"

Luffy looked Vergil in the eyes, his gaze was piercing, intense and Nami could bet all her money some would even find it uncomfortable. That same gaze shifted to Miss All-Sunday, but she didn't react, she just looked him in the eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine with this," it sounded like Luffy, easy-going, relaxed, but it looked like he saw something no one else did right before he accepted the situation.

_**~X~**_

Vergil knew it more or less from the moment he saw her. She wasn't an enemy they should fight if they could avoid it. Power wasn't much of a problem, but she was too intelligent, too resourceful to take lightly. Bounties from the Human World rarely found their way to Thanatos, the two worlds generally did some trades and some devils went on to live in the Human World. So when sixteen years ago marines came looking for a child, not only in Thanatos, but in Volos in particular, it was a big deal.

_'She sunk six ships four years ago, we assure you it's best if she's captured,' marine that was in charge of the small army he brought tried to reason with Zarja back then._

_'Good thing we don't have to worry about ships," yet Zarja didn't care._

That was the gist of what went down. Even back then Vergil knew the girl in question was hiding in Volos. He never saw her, only her wanted poster, but he heard about it from Grom. Now that girl was here, he saw she realized he knew who she was, 'Devil Child' Nico Robin. Quite frankly, he wouldn't mind if she was an ally, even if she did kill that man, after all, he wasn't like Luffy, he never took such an immediate liking to someone. On the other hand, he understood how Vivi would feel, but when it came down to it if he needed to protect something he cared about he'd team up with Acharon, let alone someone else.

As Nami finished explained the situation to Usopp and Sanji he couldn't help but notice how amused Robin looked. '_Great, we don't have all the details we need_,' he realized and felt the urge to just shoot lightning up to the sky. Not to mention they were followed by some turtle. So, she could escape if she so desired, she could from the moment he canceled **Zone of Protection**.

"Let me guess, there's something we aren't aware of," Vergil said, sounding just a bit tired.

Robin just looked him in the eyes, the unreadable look in her eyes kind of unsettled him. He had no idea what she was thinking. He knew what she knew, she knew everything, the trouble was he had no idea what the knowledge she had was.

"Perhaps," she replied, immediately setting Vivi off.

"What else?! What else are you people planning?!" the blue-haired girl was young, and it was showing.

Robin casually walked down the stairs. "Is there a chair I could use? Perhaps a book as well if you wish for me to stay here," she requested.

"Right away, madam," Sanji, of course, floored by her undeniable beauty twirled to the kitchen to get a chair for her.

"Weren't you pointing a gun at her not even fifteen minutes ago?" Usopp sweatdropped at the complete flip in attitude Sanji had when a female was involved, even if she was an enemy.

"It was empty and I'm certain Miss All-Sunday will see what's the right thing to do here," he offered her a chair. "Would you like a cup of coffee or perhaps some tea?"

"He's not going to poison you; he'd rather die than tamper with food," Vergil assured her, though she still declined. "Say, Nami, mind if I get one of the books from your room?"

"Do what you want, I'm just about done with trying to reason with you about this," Nami dismissed him.

Vergil frowned, he could see something was bothering her and he was sure it had something to do with this little plan he had. Still, he couldn't deal with that right now. He went to Nami's room and searched for something he could give to Robin. Eventually, he settled on a random novel and went back outside. As he handed the book to Robin he grinned a bit. "Hope you don't mind novels."

"Not at all," she replied and leaned back into the chair as she began reading.

"So? What now? We just relax with an enemy on our ship?" Zoro question as Vergil began climbing up to the crow's nest.

"Exactly! Take a page from Luffy's book!" he motioned at their captain, Luffy was already sitting on Merry's figurehead and demanding breakfast.

_**~X~**_

Nami couldn't sleep, all day there was slight tension on the ship. Vergil of all people let an enemy join them and she was right there, still on Merry even after almost an entire day. It was way past midnight if Nami had to guess it was probably around two in the morning. She could see Vivi was also awake, but she didn't know what to say. They agreed to take her to Alabasta and now their first mate just brought an enemy along, an enemy that killed someone Vivi cared about. Nami couldn't imagine how she would have felt if he decided to bring Arlong along.

Luffy didn't do anything to stop it. For the first time, Nami had to wonder if Vergil was plain and simple taking the crew over from the shadows. Luffy trusted him so much she doubted the rubber man would even second guess the decisions of his first mate. Vergil knew Luffy didn't like her, Luffy even said he didn't want to work with her. Yet she was still there.

Usopp was afraid, probably sleeping with one eye open. He wouldn't be strong enough to deal with Miss All-Sunday, for crying out loud she easily rendered Zoro and Sanji-kun useless.

Sanji-kun was Sanji-kun, as usual, but even he was careful, making sure the woman wasn't a threat. Nami knew he didn't exactly like the situation they were in either.

As for Zoro, she could see him trying to figure Vergil's actions out. He was the most careful one of them all, keeping track of Miss All-Sunday's every move. And while Vergil didn't see it, she definitely did see the frown on his face as Vergil climbed up to the crow's nest.

Sighing, Nami threw her blanket off and went outside. The first thing she saw was Vergil sitting on the railing, just looking at the sea below him.

"Can't sleep?" he heard her and she walked over to him.

"Could you explain this? All of this?" she wanted some answer as she leaned against the mast. While she loved being close to him this time she consciously put a distance between them.

Vergil sighed, his shoulders were slumped, his head hanging low, he was even slightly hunched forward. "I've been through more battles than I can count, I've faced enemies relying on strength, speed, raw power, but of all the enemies I've faced the worst were the intelligent ones. They have plans, they get in your head, they are always at least a step ahead of you and they never underestimate you."

Nami looked to the side, thinking back to that pretentious smile on Miss All-Sunday's face. "I wouldn't say she isn't underestimating us."

Vergil shook his head. "You're wrong. She is confident, calm, composed and she followed our every move, not a single one of us could move without her noticing. She is pushing all the right buttons to get people worked up, and it's working well on Vivi."

"Why make her stay then? Think about how Vivi feels; that woman killed Igaram-san and now Vivi needs to sail with her," she needed him to see what he was doing to Vivi, how he was hurting her right now.

"Tough luck; if she can't tolerate people she hates she isn't fit to rule," Nami hated how easily he dismissed the problem.

"That's her enemy. Don't tell me you'd make me team up with Arlong one day and just tell me to 'suck it up'?" she needed an answer to that, she needed to know if he'd ask that of her one day.

"Those are completely different scenarios. Nami, I feel sorry for Vivi, I'd like to help her and she seems like a good person, but I don't care about her. You can't expect me to look at you and her as equals," he replied, sounding a bit frustrated that she'd think he'd go that far.

But that was exactly the problem. Right now Vergil was acting as if he cared about Miss All-Sunday about as much as he cared about Vivi and one was the enemy while the other was an ally, a friend. "Think about others then. Usopp is frightened of her, everyone is on edge because she's here. All of this just for a small chance for a worthless result, sorry Vergil, but it's not worth it. You are going against what Luffy wants, he said he doesn't want to work with her, but you kept going."

He didn't respond, he just sat there; his back was still turned to her and she couldn't see his face.

"We're humans, Vergil, not devils. We don't follow the same logic as you do," she whispered, though she knew he heard her. The way he flinched proved it to her and just for a moment, she felt as if she crossed some line.

"You're right, we don't follow the same logic. And so, let me ask you, why are there so many contradictions?" his question took her by surprise.

Indeed, she warned them, she didn't attack them, but she killed Igaram-san. "She is amused by us. It's a game to her," that was the only explanation she could think of.

"We have at least a week without taking log pose into consideration until we get to Alabasta. There's no way she could have gotten here just as we were leaving if she wasn't already there. Why send his partner after Vivi? He couldn't have assumed she'd team up with pirates. If he truly did send her, why didn't she kill Vivi, that was the order, right?" he paused for a moment as he glanced up at the sky, it was clear tonight. "That's not how someone completely loyal acts."

Nami thought it over. "You heard her, didn't you? Where we're heading next is so dangerous she was sure we wouldn't make it out of there alive," Nami reminded him.

"And yet she accepted to tag along. She didn't attack even when I kept her from leaving. I know I could be wrong, I know she might just be waiting for a right opportunity, but if there's a small chance that she could turn into an ally or just stay out of this battle, I'll take it," it was his logic and he wasn't going to change his mind.

Nami sighed and closed her eyes. "Vergil, I get it, but still, there had to be a different way," she said, but he didn't answer, all she heard was a sound of a body falling into the water. Her eyes widened as she realized Vergil fell down. "Vergil!" she yelled, but he wasn't surfacing. Without missing a beat, she jumped into the water and saw him.

He was sinking. Fast.

Nami dove after him and she quickly reached him, but as she tried pulling him she realized he was too heavy for her to pull up to the surface. If it was anyone else, even Zoro or Sanji, she could do it, but Vergil was just bigger. She didn't have time to go back to the ship, she couldn't call for help. She tried to slap him, to get him to wake up, but it didn't work.

On her right, a weapon appeared out of nowhere, some sheathed sword. Vergil gripped it, but that was all he did, he didn't regain consciousness and he kept sinking lower.

_**~X~**_

Luffy was sleeping soundly, he was well fed and he loved the way sea lulled him to sleep. Usopp's frightened scream immediately woke him up, after all, there was a bad guy with them. What he saw puzzled Luffy. It was an arm up to the elbow and it was pointing outside. He had no idea what it was and neither did Zoro, Sanji, or Usopp.

"Up?" Zoro questioned.

The trapdoor suddenly opened but no one opened it and another, the same arm appeared in petals pointing towards the railing.

"Hey, where's Vergil?" Sanji noticed.

A realization suddenly hit Luffy as he stretched his arms and jumped outside to find another hand pointing to the sea. "Vergil!" he yelled and stepped on the railing to jump in.

"W-Wait! Luffy!" Usopp held him back and Zoro and Sanji jumped into the water, not knowing what to expect.

After what felt like an eternity they, along with Nami and unconscious Vergil emerged. "He's breathing! He's just unconscious!" Zoro yelled.

"Luffy, pull Nami-san out, then get us out!" Sanji ordered and Luffy stretched his hand out to Nami.

Nami looked like she was shaken up but incredibly happy to see them as Luffy pulled her back up and Usopp helped her steady herself.

"Alright, grab on!" he stretched his arms out for Zoro and Sanji. And just like that, they were all back on board. "Vergil, hey, wake up, come on," he tried to get his first mate to wake up, but he remained unconscious.

"What happened?" Vivi ran out, she heard the commotion and looked around for signs of an enemy.

"Vergil lost consciousness and fell down. He was sitting on the railing," Nami explained as she paced around, waiting for Vergil to wake up. "How did you even wake up?"

Usopp shook from head to toe. "S-S-Severed hands began popping up all over the place! One slapped me awake!" he was beyond terrified now that everyone was back to safety.

"A Devil Fruit?" Nami took a guess.

"So that's how she did all that," Zoro grumbled and looked up to the kitchen doors where Miss All-Sunday stood. "That's your ability right?"

"Yes," she simply replied and another hand appeared, the same as three before, right on top of her shoulder.

Usopp screamed.

"You knocked him off, didn't you?" Vivi accused her.

Luffy, who was kneeling next to Vergil stood up and grinned at Miss All-Sunday. "Thanks, you really helped us out!" he knew she saved Vergil and she didn't have to. "Vergil would have drowned if you weren't here!"

She smiled, not the mysterious smile, but just a simple small smile. "It would be a shame if he died like that," she said.

"Shishishi! Right!" Luffy completely agreed, it would be bad if Vergil died, he didn't want any of his Nakama to die. "Hey, join my crew!"

Her eyes widened for a moment while the rest of his crew and Vivi, with the exception of still unconscious Vergil, yelled his name.

"Luffy, she's an enemy!" Usopp was yelling, but Luffy didn't really see it.

"She saved Vergil, she's a good guy," he was certain of it, an enemy would let his first mate drown. "And she has cool power," he added, it made perfect sense to him.

Nami sighed. "She did, but she's still Crocodile's partner," well that was true.

Zoro just facepalmed while Sanji looked incredibly happy somehow.

Vergil suddenly coughed a couple of times and Luffy's attention was immediately on him. "Hey, Vergil, you okay?"

Vergil's eyes opened and he nodded. "What just happened?" and then he looked down to his left, his eyes fixed on what he was holding. "Perun," he breathed out, his eyes wide and no longer yellow.

They were red.

* * *

_**And that's the first chapter of Little Garden. We're not too far from Chopper so that's definitely welcome motivation. I'm also very eager to hear what you all think about this chapter. It's a mostly new side of Vergil I didn't get to show up until this point. There was really no one that could bring it out of him until Robin showed up. **_

_**One major question though. Do you feel like Robin is OOC? In all my writing I actually only got to write like one scene with her, all the way back when I first wrote this story, so I'm kind of worried about that. **_

* * *

_**Answers on reviews:**_

_**Guest – Thank you.**_

_**Drago pirate – Thanks, as for Warriors of Volos, well, that would be a spoiler.**_

_**Shitabrick – Thanks, I appreciate it. As for Electro's theme, I mean, I'm fine with that, it's cool.**_

_**SubZPhantomX – Hey, how's it going? It's good to see you again. I'm glad you liked the chapters, you're right, there really wasn't much I could change.**_

_**KP360 – You know, your review kind of made me reconsider something I had in mind for this arc, but revealing what it was would be a spoiler at this point. But yeah, that's pretty much the reason I decided to add Robin here.**_

_**V: And she was really eager to write the scene where Robin as an enemy actually saves me.**_

_**That too.**_


	22. Flower in a storm

_**Chapter 22 – Flower in a storm**_

* * *

Vergil felt as if the time itself slowed down around him. Perun was in front of him. His Devil Arm, his soul. It was back, sort of, he couldn't make it disappear; he felt that the moment he saw it. It would remain materialized at least until he completely reconnected with it. For now, he'd just keep it at his hip. He wouldn't need a sash r anything like that, Perun would just stay there due to electricity. That hardly mattered though, it was back. Perun was back. He had no idea what happened, how it got here, but that was insignificant as well.

"What's that?" Luffy asked, curiously poking the sheathed weapon.

It was as if Luffy's question brought Vergil back to reality. "My Devil Arm," he spoke up, his voice barely louder than a whisper.

"Wait, didn't you say it was taken from you?" Sanji inquired.

"I don't really get it either, but you won't hear me complaining," Vergil replied and unsheathed the blade.

Usopp gulped as he saw the blade. "It looks kind of bloodthirsty," he pointed out, sounding a bit frightened of the blade.

Vergil chuckled at that. Indeed, Perun's blade was mostly red, the same red as his eyes. With Perun back, he could in a way feel his eyes going back to the red color instead of the devil yellow.

"Hey, Vergil," Zoro got his attention and subtly motioned towards Nami.

Vergil immediately felt guilt; he got so caught up in Perun suddenly being there that he forgot he nearly drowned. That she was there when he fell, that she jumped after him and couldn't do anything. "How are you doing?" he knew it was a stupid question, but he wasn't sure what else to ask.

Nami looked to the side, refusing to meet his eyes. "I'm fine. It's really good you got your weapon back," she replied, still as distant as she was before he lost consciousness and fell into the water.

Vergil had no idea what to say or do. He could tell she wasn't exactly comfortable, that something was bothering her and he figured it had something to do with his recent actions. "Nami," luckily he was sort of saved by the bell.

"Hey, Vergil, we got new Nakama," Luffy, completely oblivious to the slight tension between his first mate and his navigator interrupted whatever Vergil was about to say with the brightest grin on his face.

Vergil raised an eyebrow at that. "Her?" he pointed at Nico Robin causing Luffy to nod.

"Yeah, she helped save you so she's a good guy!" Luffy declared.

"Luffy, she isn't a good guy," Nami sighed, she was quickly losing her patience when it came to their guest.

"Yeah, she's actually a good girl," Vergil smirked, looking directly at Robin when he said that. The slightly older woman had an amused smile on her face at the white-haired male's choice of words.

Nami, however, had enough and punched him in the head. "You stay quiet!" she proceeded to point her finger at Robin. "I don't know what you're playing at, but don't think this changes anything."

"But Nami, she helped us," Luffy pointed out. "And I want her in my crew!"

"She's an enemy!" Nami shrieked at Luffy.

Zoro facepalmed, understanding the situation they were in. "He already decided," he sighed, there was no way Luffy would just give up now.

Robin chuckled. "No need to worry, navigator-san, I have no intention of joining your crew," she assured Nami, and there was no doubt in Vergil's mind. She meant that; regardless of what he or the others did, she would remain an enemy at least for the foreseeable future.

"Why not? Come on, be my Nakama," Luffy was persistent, so endearingly persistent.

"You're still on Crocodile's side, aren't you?" Vergil asked, pausing for a brief moment. "Nico Robin?"

Immediately her amused smile dropped. She had the suspicion he knew who she was but now he confirmed it.

"Nico Robin?" Vivi repeated, shocked that Vergil suddenly revealed he knew the woman's name.

"Wait, you know her?" Zoro asked, sounding as if he was piecing together something.

Vergil shook his head. "Not personally. Sixteen years ago she came to Volos, a city in the Demon World where I lived. I don't know much, I know she had a bounty back then, nearly as much as Crocodile in fact," he looked Robin in the eyes. "Back then you weren't exactly a pirate. Grom only said one thing, that you are an archeologist; he wouldn't say anything else and I never cared to ask."

Robin narrowed her eyes, any amusement was long gone. She was serious and for a moment Vergil feared she'd attack. "Even if you do know that, it doesn't make a difference."

"It makes all the difference. I don't trust you, but I trust Grom and Zarja. And I find it difficult to believe that a child they were ready to fight the marines for would be willing to destroy an entire country," it was all or nothing. Either he picked the right words, or he ruined one chance he was trying to get.

Robin walked over to the railing. "Banchi," she said and almost immediately a giant turtle emerged from the sea.

"Woah! What a big turtle!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Black Thunder-san, consider this a friendly warning, do not interfere with Baroque Works any further," she jumped down and took a den den mushi. She tossed it into Vergil's hands and looked him in the eyes. "Once you decide to hand the princess over, contact me," she stated.

"That's not gonna happen. We're taking Vivi back to Alabasta and we're gonna kick Crocodile's ass," Luffy declared without a hint of doubt in his voice.

"Luffy-san," Vivi whispered, sounding almost surprised that Luffy was so set on helping her.

Granted, after what Vergil pulled, she actually had the right to doubt them at least a little bit.

With an amused smile, clearly showing she expected that answer from Luffy, Nico Robin left.

_**~X~**_

Nico Robin had no desire to join this crew. Going against Crocodile? They would simply fail. Even if she told them the man's weakness she highly doubted they'd even get to him. Even if they did, she was certain there would be only one man on the crew that could put up a fight. Alas, lightning and water never mixed well.

Thanatos had a long history, yet only a handful of rulers, one of which ruled for much, much longer than the rest. Apolion the Immortal Light. The only records known to devil kind that predated Apolion were records of Volos being built. The first time devils united and created a city was 2700 years ago. Roughly 350 years after that Apolion came out of nowhere, armor-clad warrior commanding all but lightning and by his side was his first Rewera Kaiser, Leonidas Vrag.

Apparently, that was how old the Leonidas name was and here she saw a man, said to be a half-devil, carrying that same name, following a human. Not just any human, but a boy, merely 17 years old, from East Blue. Then again, the boy was a D. she couldn't dismiss that. What did the D. mean, she wondered? What was it about those people?

Was that what got Black Thunder to follow him?

Nico Robin had no desire to join this crew. She did, however, find them intriguing. The captain, the first mate, all of them so different; almost as if the crew was randomly thrown together and it just happened to work. Her eyes fell on Black Thunder, she wondered just how much he was involved in the battle of Volos.

_**~Thanatos, Volos, 16 years ago~**_

Back then she was still in West Blue, still young, still just a bit hopeful that maybe something would change. She hoped she could find some clues, some answers in Volos, the first city ever to be built in Thanatos. It wasn't easy but she managed to make her way to the other world and what she saw mesmerized her.

Volos was beautiful. The buildings were hundreds of years old, yet through the effort of devil kind, they withstood the harsh nature of the world. The entire city was merged with nature, vines sprouting from the ground and going up the pure white buildings. The main streets were paved with black marble and the archways, all carefully carved from the combination of special materials from Thanatos, lined up all the way to the main square.

Up ahead she saw the largest building in the city. A palace would be the only word that could properly describe it, though it was anything but that. Everything significant, including the greatest library in Thanatos, was in there.

This city was the only place in Thanatos that had never been conquered. Warriors of Volos made sure of that, the army low in numbers but relentless in defense of their home. The lookouts all over the town made sure not a single threat could approach without the entire city being alerted.

"Nico Robin, correct?" she was so amazed by the city she nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of her name.

Quickly she turned to her right and saw a woman, likely in the late forties, wearing a long purple fur coat over a simple black suit. Her hair was black, though it was starting to turn grey here and there. The golden sigil of Volos of her right sleeve, it looked a lot like a capital letter A, flipped upside-down and separated through the middle of the vertical line. "I am Zarja, leader of Warriors of Volos."

Robin nodded, carefully watching for any sign on danger.

"I'm sorry for what happened to Ohara; rest assured, as long as you're here you are under the protection of Volos."

Robin would lie if she said she wasn't cautious, but time passed and Zarja stayed true to her word.

_**~X~**_

Still, as it usually happened with Robin she couldn't even properly get used to the safety Volos gave her. Two months after her arrival, shortly after she finally felt like she could just stay there Zarja came to her room. Volos was on the verge of war; the tensions were rising.

"I'll give you money, food, everything you need for some time, but you need to go back to the Human World," Zarja said, she was looking through the window.

Robin shook her head. "I don't want to. Volos had never been conquered before, why do I have to leave?" she didn't want to leave.

Zarja sighed, still not looking at Robin. "I'm sorry. I've given you hope for a new beginning, a new life here. But our army is slowly getting weaker," she paused for a brief moment. "Apolion is gradually weakening us and we don't have enough people to replace soldiers we lost in the past few years."

That was right. It was too good to be true. No matter what she'd always be alone.

"Volos will fall and I don't want to put you through something like that again. You've already seen one home fall; I don't have it in me to allow you to see a place doomed to fall as a new home. It might be in a year, or a decade, but Volos will fall. Please, Robin, forgive me," Zarja requested, finally turning to look at Robin, and Robin's eyes widened slightly as she saw a single tear falling from Zarja's eye.

_**~Present time~**_

It took some time, six years to be exact. But the magnificent city, Volos, was conquered and turned into ruins. She never went there again, but she heard the stories of a burning city, crumbling to dust as the Warriors of Volos failed to protect it.

Now, only one combination of facts made Robin reconsider her position. Could the fabled tenacity of a Warrior of Volos and someone carrying a Will of D. bring a miracle and defeat Crocodile? Somehow, she found it hard to dismiss them completely.

_**~X~**_

After Robin left their ship the crew had a mostly relaxed journey to their next island. With the exception of escaping from a gigantic dolphin that just happened to jump out near Going Merry, it was quite uneventful.

Everyone was noticeably more comfortable once again. Well, Luffy was a bit disappointed Robin rejected him, but he got used to being rejected the first time so he didn't let that discourage him.

Vergil wasn't exactly affected by Robin's departure; he was more concerned with the way that situation damaged his relationship with others. He could feel Vivi's disapproval, not that he really cared about that. Nami was the one that for some reason affected him. She made it perfectly clear she wasn't happy with what he did.

There would be time to talk it out, right now they were minutes away from their second island, and from the looks of it this island wasn't something they would come across often. There were no sins of civilization, humans, or any other races. It looked like it had never been tampered with, untouched nature unique from anything Vergil ever saw in his life.

The trees, even the grass, everything was way taller than usual; the trees towered over Merry and if that was anything to go by animals would likely be large as well.

"We should be careful; I'm worried about what Miss All-Sunday said about this island," Vivi reminded them to stay cautious.

"Y-Y-You don't think there are monsters here, do you?" Usopp was certainly the most cautious one.

"Beats me, but we gotta stock up on some food pretty soon. I wasn't able to restock at all at the last town," Sanji brought the lack of food to their attention as well. "But man, just look at this place, it's like a land yet to be explored by people. The entire island is a thick jungle."

"So this is Little Garden, I can't say I see anything that would deserve such a cute name like that though," Nami was also looking around as they sailed further down the river. "Just what about this island is little?"

"River? I mean compared to the trees it's more of a creek," Vergil commented, Merry was already a small ship and he doubted a ship three or four times larger could sail here.

"I mean, I can't say you're wrong," Nami muttered and motioned back to the shores. "I've never seen any plants like these, even in my encyclopedia!"

Before anyone could reply they were interrupted by what sounded like a huge bird. It was so loud Vergil had to cover his ears and Nami let out a terrified scream.

"What was that just now?!" Nami exclaimed, looking at the sky.

"Terrified Nami-san is soooo cute! Don't worry, it's just a normal bird. And even this island is nothing but your average jungle," Sanji sounded confident as he reassured Nami things would be fine.

Luffy, on the other hand, managed to catch a glimpse of their mysterious bird. "A lizard…?" he noticed. It certainly looked like a combination of a bird and a lizard, though maybe it was just too far for him to see.

One thing after another kept happening and a loud explosion echoed likely all over the island.

"Does that sound like your average jungle?!" Nami demanded, now even more terrified of the island.

"That sounded like a volcano eruption or something!" Usopp was downright panicking. And it still wasn't the end.

A growl to their left alerted them and they saw a huge tiger just falling over, blood dripping from all over his body.

"This is definitely not normal! Otherwise, why would a tiger, kind of the jungle, collapse covered in its own blood?!" Nami yelled as Vergil jumped from Merry to the tiger's body. "Vergil!" she shrieked, not sure whether to choke him when he gets back on board for risking so much or hug him if he gets back on board in one piece.

Vergil knelt down next to the tiger and took a look at the wounds. "Holes? Laser-like precision to just the right spots?" he muttered as he lightly spread the wounds. "Definitely not a weapon," he concentrated, trying to sense traces of soul attack. It was barely there, but he could sense light soul. "We've got company!" he yelled as he got back up and noticed his crew dropped the anchor.

"Company?!" Usopp screamed. "Baroque Works?!"

Vergil shrugged, he couldn't be certain. "Not sure, but it's definitely a devil," he walked down the shore to get a bit closer to Merry.

"What now? Fighting a devil on such a small ship could be bad for us," Vivi pointed out.

"Maybe they are nice," Luffy said and pointed at Vergil. "Like Vergil."

Vergil, Usopp, and Nami sweatdropped. "That's not exactly the first word that comes to mind," they all replied almost at the exact moment.

Vergil looked at the tiger. Vivi was right, fighting a devil near Merry was too risky. "I'll go and find that devil. If there's going to be a fight, I'd rather take the fight to them."

Nami felt uneasy as she looked at Vergil. "Alone?" she questioned, whatever disagreement they had when it came to Miss All-Sunday it vanished now that he wanted to go and find a devil.

The white-haired male nodded. Luffy would get excited by the new island way too easily and likely alert the devil, Zoro might get lost, Sanji would be useless if it was a girl, making him useful in only 50% chances, he wasn't about to put Nami and Usopp in danger and he didn't really feel like bringing Vivi and Karoo along. "It's better if I go on my own."

"I'm more surprised Luffy isn't tagging along," Usopp glanced at their captain, the rubber man was just grinning at Vergil.

"It's that mystery slow thing?" Luffy asked and Vergil nodded. "Shishishi, have fun!" he joined Vergil once, he wasn't going to do it again if he could explore the island on his own.

Vergil grinned back. "Got it," he replied. "I'll come back as soon as I make sure that this devil is no longer a danger," he assured the crew.

"Be careful," Nami warned him.

Vergil's eyes softened a bit, which was considerably more noticeable now that his eyes were red. "Hey, it's me, I can deal with a devil or two," he turned around, waving back to the crew and entered the jungle.

_**~X~**_

It wasn't cold, it hardly ever was. Besides, she was a light devil, as long as the Sun was there for her to see she'd stay warm even in the cold. Still, she remained wrapped in her blanket. Blue fur blanket with small white dots all over it, it was soft, and even after so many years, it smelt like home. It was a much-needed reminder of her family, her parents she wished so hard to reunite with.

Den den mushi rang and she just looked at it; her golden eyes were half-closed but she raised her head. As if it was the last thing she wanted to do she picked up. "What is it?" she asked, barely containing her lack of interest.

"Miss C?" the voice on the other side spoke up.

She nodded, before realizing he couldn't see her. "Right and you are Mr. 3," she wasn't asking, she knew who would be calling her. "You finally arrived?"

"Indeed, now, if you would join-"

"I'm fine where I am. If fighting brings me to you I'll help," she hung up, not wanting to waste any more breath on the conversation. Slowly she let sleep overcome her, the blanket soothed her and she fell asleep.

A dinosaur approached her only for her to subconsciously raise a finger and shoot it with a beam of light strong enough to pierce its jaw. It roared, angered, and in pain, ready to attack the small girl. The dinosaur bit into the blanket only for the teeth to shatter. The blanket began shining, soft blue light wrapped itself around the dinosaur's body, crushing its bones.

_**~X~**_

Vergil climbed to the top of the tree, he could no longer see Merry. The plants were strange, to say the least, but he figured it was just another jungle, just as Sanji said.

He heard stomping to his left and turned to see a giant dark brown lizard standing on two legs. "A dinosaur?" his eyes lit up, he heard about them from his mother but he never thought he'd see one. "So cool!" oh Luffy was going to have a blast on this island. It approached him, likely ready to attack him.

Vergil smirked and charged a bit of electricity towards it, just to let it know what not to do. "No! None of that, shame of you!" he pointed at the dinosaur, grinning from ear to ear. "Now, where is that devil," he began looking again, hoping for some visual cue as the dinosaur roared at him. Vergil frowned. "Geez, wash your mouth, preferably entire throat as well," he groaned and unsheathed Perun. He leapt from the tree and in a single swing he cut the top half of the dinosaur's head with barely a few drops of blood.

A Devil Arm with the soul of lightning, regardless of the wound his enemies would have difficulty bleeding out. The electricity often stopped most of the bleeding regardless of the speed of his swing. That was Perun, lightning made tangible.

Still, he couldn't feel any devil nearby. Which left him one option, go deeper into the jungle and hope for the best. Vergil jumped down, as softly as he possibly could and looked at the blood on one of the trees, it was likely from that tiger. It was too fresh to dismiss, although, seeing as this was an island with dinosaurs he doubted devil would be the only cause of injuries here. It was still his best clue, he walked through the grass, searching for the next bloodstain. It didn't take long to find it, though this one wasn't stain made by tiger, or any other animal, passing by and leaving blood by accident.

It was blood splatter, and the wood was also pierced. His eyes widened and he raised Perun just in time to block a beam of light. He narrowed his eyes, surprised he didn't feel an enemy there, and then it made sense. It wasn't a devil; it was a sensor trap.

Vergil ducked under the next beam and deflected the one after that as he quickly advanced towards the source of the beam. It was just an already formed ball of light, just as he reached it, it fired one last beam before vanishing.

The white-haired male frowned, this wasn't an enemy he could let near the crew. He wasn't sure how strong the devil in question was, but the control over their power was undeniable. "Bring it," he spoke up, his grip on Perun strengthening. Vergil closed his eyes, concentrating on creating a sort of a net of invisible electricity. He'd need to detect any traps in time. The light wasn't a slow soul, quite the opposite, average light devil was usually faster than any other devil on the same level.

Feeling a mass of light under a small layer of dirt he threw a lightning ball towards it causing it to explode. Lasers, mines, this entire place was set up to protect a base of some sort. It also meant one more thing, the devil wasn't far.

Five minutes and a few more traps later he reached a clearing and saw her. A female curled up with a blanket acting as a sort of a cocoon. All he could see was a bit of dirty blonde hair and a bit of tan skin. She was sleeping, yet Vergil skidded to the side, barely avoiding a beam of light. "Tricky little brat," he smirked as the girl slowly opened her eyes.

She glanced at him and then shifted around a bit before looking at a paper. "Ah, a pirate that knows Boss' identity," she mumbled sleepily.

Vergil raised an eyebrow at that. "Baroque Works," he realized, though it threw him off a bit. "Where's your partner?"

She stood up, showing just how short she was, she was probably half a head shorter than Nami, making Vergil, who was roughly 190 cm tall, tower over her. "Devils work alone in Baroque Works; at least the ones capable of utilizing their soul," she replied. Her eyes were telling him she wasn't planning on letting him live. "You can call me Miss C, or C; you might as well know who killed you."

Vergil smirked and pointed Perun at her. "Leonidas Vergil, just so you know."

"Weapon against a harmless girl?" she taunted, still standing still underneath the tree.

Vergil chuckled a bit and formed a ball of lightning. He threw it at the girl and the blanket just repelled it back. "Harmless girl with a Demon Forged? Sure."

* * *

_**And just like that, we're one chapter closer to the end of this arc. One thing I struggled with is where to go with Vergil. Originally, I had Robin stay with the crew until they reached Alabasta, but as I thought it through this ended up being a better option. That, unfortunately, gave me a different problem. What about Vergil? This entire arc works by keeping most of the crew stuck, but I can't get Vergil stuck and not because he's my OC and I want him to be badass. He can't survive getting stuck like Luffy and wax would melt because of lightning. Not to mention every enemy on Little Garden is actually weak so there was that issue as well. So an OC it was. I chose to name her Miss M, for Roman number 1000, there will be C for 100 and X for 10**_

_**This is a bit of a spoiler, but I'd like to say that there won't be too many OCs for Vergil to fight in the future sagas. Quite frankly if things go the way I plan there will be two more OCs, the ones mentioned here, in Alabasta, then one for CP9 and I think that will be all for the story up until a certain part of the story.**_

* * *

_**Answers on reviews:**_

_**Big thank you to Guest, Sagicknight, nawille99, Guest and Guest.**_

_**Drago pirate – Thanks, as for Vergil's outfit, I guess I haven't really paid much attention to it. In most cases he'll wear black boots and tracksuit bottom with a simple T-shirt. In this case, a grey one.**_

_**SubZPhantomX – Well, I hope you don't mind Robin not sticking around for too long, now it might look like I'm forcing things back to the way they were in canon, but I do have a plan in mind and Robin was going to be absent from Drum no matter what. The only question was when she would leave. I'll admit it though, I wrote myself into a corner with that "Call Crocodile" thing, so I kind of tried to ditch it.**_

_**V: Yeah, she wasn't all that sure where to go with that.**_

_**KP360 – Thank you, I really enjoyed reading that review. I agree completely with everything you said and I'm really happy you think Robin wasn't too OOC. The other Straw Hats are one thing, but she is not easy to write, she's such a special character that takes time, even more, when she is in the antagonist role.**_

_**V: Gian, your girl is awesome **_

_**sacke110 – First things first, thank you very much for so many reviews. And thank you for giving the story a chance even if you feel devils and demons are out of place in One Piece. I actually absolutely have to agree about that. I know it is probably a big reason for some to just drop the story and I appreciate anyone who takes time to read it. So thank you and thank you for all the compliments you've given me. I'm glad you think so. Now, Koby, I feel is underused at this point in the story and I want to change that at least to a certain extent, but just because he isn't trained by Garp from the start it doesn't mean he won't end up under Garp at some point. Finally, Robin, at this point has a bit of a role I need her to play, it will also be important for Vivi in the end so that's as much as I can say at this point.**_


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